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More Excellent 
Ministry 

ANDROSS 



Pacific Press Publishing Association 

Mountain View, California 









Spirit World 

and a Future Life 

By Prof\ G. W. Rine 


Can We Communicate with the 
Spirits of the Departed? 

€$ This is the question that 13 agitating the great minds 
of the scientific and theological world to-day. 

*3 In this pamphlet of ninety-six pages Professor Rine 
has clearly shown the origin and nature of Spiritu¬ 
alism and other occult phenomena. Many quotations 
from original documents vouch for the truth of the 
author’s statements. The basis of our hope in a 
future life is also plainly set forth. 

€jj Read and see for you/sely. 

Price, post-paid, 10 cents 


Address your Tract Society, or 

Pacific Press Publishing Association 

Mountain View, California 
Portland, Ore, Calgary, Alberta, Can. Kansas City, Mo, 














A 

MORE EXCELLENT 
MINISTRY 


// 

E' E. ANDROSS 


PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING ASSN. 

Mountain View, Cal. 

Portland, Ore. Calgary, Alberta, Canada Kansas City, Mo. 



.M 6 





Copyright 1912 

Pacific Press Publishing Association 




&CI.A316527 
A/O . / 


A Foreword 

The study of the sanctuary question involves the sacrifice, 
mediation, and priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Like 
other great Bible topics, it is “ exceeding broad/» and no 
true, devoted student would assume that the last word upon 
the subject has been uttered. This modest little book makes 
no pretention to an exhaustive study. It was called out to 
meet an issue which had arisen, and it seems to the writer 
of this foreword that the author has met that issue, clearly 
and strongly. In some cases the student may not accept the 
interpretation, explanation, or application, of certain passages 
of Scripture which do not materially affect the real question, 
but we believe he will see that the work on the whole is con¬ 
clusive as to the antitypical priesthood of our Lord in His 
offering and ministry for sin; that the ancient sanctuary with 
its service in the Levitical dispensation was in its full yearly 
round a type of the priesthood of Christ from His crucifixion 
to His coming. The essentials of the erroneous theory under 
review are shown to be fallacious and unscriptural. Besides 
this, there is much light thrown on the daily and yearly offer¬ 
ings in type and antitype. As a friendly torch to light the 
way out of the mazes of error, as a helpful study of the 
great question, the work is cordially commended, especially to 
the obedient children of God looking for the coming of the 
Christ, then priest for sinners no longer, and to the still larger 
class who need the help which a study of our Lord’s sac¬ 
rifice and more excellent ministry can give. 

IV^ilton C. Wilcox. 

Mountain View, California, 

June 7, 1912. 

3 


Contents 


Introduction.7 

Chapter 1 — The Sanctuary and Its Services - - 13 

The earthly sanctuary a miniature representation of the 
heavenly temple, 13; The earthly sanctuary described, 

13; Its ministration, 14; Daily, 15; Yearly, 16; Min¬ 
istration in the heavenly sanctuary, 17; Meaning of 
the typical service, 17; Type and reality, 18; Earthly 
and heavenly ministration in the first apartment, 19; 
Beginning of ministration in each apartment of the 
heavenly sanctuary, 19. 

Chapter 2 — An Old View Revised - - - - 22 

Fundamental propositions, 22; Quotations from “Cast 
Out ’ ’ in support of the same, 24. 

Chapter 3 — -Good Things to Come - - - - 28 

The two sanctuaries, 28; Relation between the ratifi¬ 
cation of the new covenant and the opening of the 
service in the heavenly sanctuary, 31; Beginning of 
ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, 31; The new 
covenant ratified, 32; The way into the heavenly made 
manifest, 35; The earthly service a shadow of good 
things to come, 37. 

Chapter 4 — The Dedication of the Sanctuary - - 42 

The sanctuary anointed, 43; The time, 43; Meaning of 
expression “to anoint the most holy,” 46; “Ko-desh 
kodashim, ” 46; The most holy place entered when the 
sanctuary was anointed, 51; Christ entered “within 
the veil ’ ’ to anoint the ark of the testimony, 52; 
Meaning of the anointing, 53. 

Chapter 5 — The Opening Service - - - - 55 

Order of service, earthly, 55; Heavenly, 56; The anti¬ 
type Pentecost, 58; Assurance of Christ’s exalta¬ 
tion to priesthood, 59. 

Chapter 6 — The Aaronic Priesthood a Type of Christ 62 
Melchisedec not a priest in heaven prior to the cross, 

63; The high priests in their daily and yearly min¬ 
istration a type of Christ, 64. 


4 


Contents 


5 


Chapter / Kequisites for the Priestly Office - 70 
A human personality, 70; Experience in suffering, 70; 
Angels not thus qualified, 74; A divine commission, 

75; When given, 76; Its significance, 79. 

Chapter 8 — Christ Prefigured in the Daily Sacrifices 83 
The daily service typical of Christ’s ministry, 83; The 
articles of furniture foreshadow the Saviour, 83; The 
daily offerings also a type, 84. 

Chapter 9 The Daily Sin-Offering and the Lord ’s 

Goat.. 

Christ the Sinless One prefigured by the Lord’s goat, 

95; The cleansing of the sinner and the cleansing of 
the sanctuary, 97. 

Chapter 10 — A More Excellent Ministry - - 101 

The sacrificial system an expression of faith in Christ, 

101; The change from the Aaronic to the Melcliisedec 
priesthood, 102; The change in the law regulating 
the priesthood, 103; The eyes of God’s people turned 
from Jerusalem to Christ the Mediator, 107. 

Chapter 11 — An Acceptable Sacrifice - - - - 109 

Christ’s offering a preparation for the priesthood, 109; 
Ministry in the heavenly sanctuary begins when the 
new-covenant offering is presented, 111; Christ’s vic¬ 
tory over death, 113; His reception in the heavenly 
courts, 113. 

Chapter 12 — The Heavens Opened - 118 

John sees the heavenly sanctuary, 118; The twenty- 
four elders, 119; The rending of the veil, 124; Christ 
in the garden, 127; The entrance of sin into heaven, 

129. 

Chapter 13 — On the Throne .132 

Ezekiel’s description of God’s glory, 132; Isaiah de¬ 
scribes the throne, 134; The Lord’s work in the 
earthly sanctuary, 136; “A throne was set,” 138; 

The throne-room, 141; God “on the throne,” 143; 

The law the foundation of God’s throne, 145. 


6 


Contents 


Chapter 14— From Eden to Calvary - 148 

The Mediator from the fall, 148; Associated in person 
with His people before the cross, 149; Since the cross 
a priest in heaven, 151; Christ’s sacrifice efficacious in 
every age, 151; Christ’s blood alone could avail in the 
heavenly ministration, 153; Object of the earthly 
service, 154; Time fixed for Christ’s ministry to be¬ 
gin, 154; Strength of God’s promise, 154; The 
world’s Redeemer through the ages, 155. 

Chapter 15 — The Time Is Fulfilled .... 159 
God’s purposes often obscure, 159; The prophecy of 
Daniel 8 and 9, 160; The disciples bitterly disap¬ 
pointed, 164; This disappointment marks the begin¬ 
ning of Christ’s ministry in the first apartment, 165; 
Beginning of Christ’s ministry in the first and the 
second apartment the fulfilment of a definite time 
prophecy, 166; The disappointment of 1844, 168. 

Chapter 16 — The Sanctuary Defiled .... 172 
Atonement revealed in typical service, 172; Transfer¬ 
ence of guilt to substitute, or victim, 173; Sin borne 
by priest into sanctuary, 176; Christ the substitute, 

177; Christ’s the cleansing blood, 177; The sanctuary 
defiled by blood that had cleansed the sinner, 177; 

The sanctuary cleansed by the blood of the Lord’s 
goat, 179; Examples of blood’s representing sin, 180; 
Earth cleansed by flood, 184; Earth to be cleansed by 
fire, 184. 

Chapter 17 — The Cleansing of the Sanctuary - 189 
Accomplished by sprinkling the blood of the Lord’s 
goat, 189; Sins placed on the head of the goat, 189; 

The people cleansed also, 190; Time of the cleansing 
of the heavenly sanctuary outlined in prophetic period, 

190; Definitions of reconciliation and atonement, 191; 
Atonement and cleansing of the sanctuary inseparable, 

195; Lucifer’s choice, 198; Satan the antitypical 
scapegoat, 200; Prepare for the Judgment, 201. 

Chapter 18 — Conclusion - - - . . 204 



Introduction 

“And he said unto me, Thou must proph¬ 
esy again before many peoples, and nations, 
and tongues, and kings. And there was given 
me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, 
saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, 
and the altar, and them that worship therein. 
Hut the court which is without the temple 
leave out.” Rev. 10:11; 11:1, 2. 

This prophetic picture of a prophesying 
again, and of a measurement of the temple 
of God, brought great light and joy to a few 
who had participated in the great advent 
movement of 1844. There were thousands 
who had looked forward in a sure confidence 
and glad anticipation to the expected return 
of their beloved Lord on that memorable 
“tenth day of the seventh month.” Although 
their hopes had been blasted, and they were 
the objects of the keenest ridicule and sar¬ 
casm of scoffers, there were some who refused 
to abandon their faith in the assurances that 
God had led them, and they earnestly sought 
Him for light. 

There are unmistakable evidences that it 
was the Holy Spirit that directed their minds 
to scriptures that spoke of the heavenly sanc- 


7 


8 


Introduction 


tuary, of which the ancient earthly tabernacle 
was but a type. They saw that it was not the 
earth that was to be purified by fire at the 
end of the prophetic “two thousand'and three 
hundred days,” but that while the “patterns 
of things in the heavens” had been purified by 
the sprinkling of the blood of animals, it was 
necessary that the “heavenly things them¬ 
selves” should be purified “with better sac¬ 
rifices than these.” 

Earnestly and persistently a few men 
prayerfully studied the Word until they ob¬ 
tained a clear view of the work of Christ as 
our great High Priest in the sanctuary above. 

The subject of the sanctuary was the key which un¬ 
locked the mystery of the disappointment of 1844. 
It opened to view a complete system of truth, con¬ 
nected and harmonious, showing that God’s hand had 
directed the great advent movement, and revealing 
present duty as it brought to light the position and 
work of His people .—“Great Controversy,” page 423. 

This light regarding the ministry of Christ 
in our behalf, not only flashed back over the 
path they had traveled, making plain the 
reason for their disappointed hopes, but its 
clear rays illumined the future. In this light 
the great truths of a message that was to be 
proclaimed to “every nation, and kindred, and 
tongue, and people” were unfolded in beau- 


Introduction 


9 


tiful symmetry; and with a courage and in¬ 
domitable energy born of a conviction that 
God bad called them to the work, these pio¬ 
neers of the third angel’s message gave their 
lives to the study of God’s word, and the 
proclamation of the truths regarding the com¬ 
ing of the Lord. 

Without claiming infallibility for any man 
or company of men, it can be said with strong 
assurance that the great doctrines regarding 
the sanctuary, as taught by the pioneers of 
this movement, bore the seal of heaven. In 
the light of the providences which attended 
the establishing of this position, and the Scrip¬ 
tural evidences in its favor, we may regard 
it as a “pillar” in the platform of truth which 
can not be moved. And we believe that he 
who prayerfully examines the subject now, 
will find precious light, and be strengthened 
in the faith. 

About the year 1904, the superintendent of 
our work in Wales developed certain theories 
regarding the atonement, and the ministry of 
Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, which, after 
careful consideration, were regarded by his 
brethren in the ministry as subversive of the 
great principles of truth underlying the plan 
of salvation revealed in the typical service 


10 


Introduction 


of the earthly sanctuary, and in the antityp¬ 
ical service in the heavenly sanctuary. 

It therefore seemed wise to the British 
Union Conference Committee, upon whom the 
responsibility of the work in the United King¬ 
dom of Great Britain and Ireland rested, to 
request him to attend the General Confer¬ 
ence of Seventh-day Adventists to be held, in 
Washington, D. C., the following May, 1905, 
and to present his views to a committee of 
his brethren. Accordingly he was appointed 
delegate to the General Conference; and be¬ 
fore a large representative committee ap¬ 
pointed by the General Conference Committee, 
an hour’s hearing was given him each morn¬ 
ing for three successive days. Following this, 
three brethren who had been asked to review 
his positions, occupied two hours (one hour 
each day for two days, dividing the time be¬ 
tween them) in an effort to help him to un¬ 
derstand the evidences of truth in the posi¬ 
tion held by the denomination. 

Later he set forth his views in a booklet 
bearing the title “Cast Out for the Cross of 
Christ.” And recently, with others who were 
in sympathy with his teaching, he began an 
active propaganda of his views. Inasmuch as 
some have become perplexed over the positions 


Introduction 


11 


set forth in his booklet and publicly advocated 
by those who have adopted his views, it has 
seemed by many that his teaching should be 
examined in the light of the Bible. 

The writer of the following pages has herein 
set forth what he and others believe to be 
the teaching of the Bible and the views of 
Seventh-day Adventists regarding the great 
sanctuary question and the priesthood and 
ministry of Christ, and believes, also, that these 
views are abundantly sustained by Holy Scrip¬ 
ture. He has left out of this discussion, as 
properly not belonging to it, matters which 
lie between the author of ‘ 4 Cast Out” and any 
other persons, confining the discussion to the 
Bible itself. He has passed by many asser¬ 
tions in ‘ • Cast Out” that are entirely void of 
Scriptural support, and that do not seem to 
require even a passing notice; but has sum¬ 
marized what he regards as the vital errors, 
and has attempted to meet these by positive 
truth, thus presenting in a new setting the 
Bible teachings on the sanctuary and atone¬ 
ment. 

This book is sent forth with the hope that 
the great truths of the atonement as por¬ 
trayed in the sanctuary and its ministry both 
in type and in antitype, may be made to 


12 


Introduction 


stand out more clearly and to appear in all 
their radiant beauty, unbedimmed by the dark¬ 
ness of human reasonings; that all may lay 
hold anew upon “the hope set before us: which 
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both 
sure and steadfast, and which entereth into 
that within the veil; whither the Forerunner 
is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High 
Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec .’ 9 

E. E. Andross. 


CHAPTER 1 


THE SANCTUARY AND ITS SERVICES 

As a convenient way of bringing before 
the reader in brief form a clear statement of 
those views concerning the sanctuary and its 
services which have been maintained by Sev¬ 
enth-day Adventists, and proclaimed to the 
world by their representatives, the following 
is presented from chapter 30 of “ Patriarchs 
and Prophets,” and chapter 23 of “The Great 
Controversy Between Christ and Satan/’ by 
Mrs. E. G. White: 

The command was communicated to Moses while in 
the mount with God, “Let them make Me a sanctuary, 
that I may dwell among them/’ and full directions 
were given for the construction of the tabernacle. 
. . . God Himself gave to Moses the plan of that 
structure, with particular directions as to its size 
and form, the materials to be employed, and every 
article of furniture which it was to contain. The 
holy places made with hands were to be “figures of 
the true,” “patterns of things in the heavens,”— 
a miniature representation of the heavenly temple 
where Christ, our great High Priest, after offering 
His life as a sacrifice, was to minister in the sin¬ 
ner’s behalf. . . . 

The building was divided into two apartments by 
a rich and beautiful curtain, or veil, suspended from 
gold-plated pillars; and a similar veil closed the en¬ 
trance of the first apartment. ... In the first 
apartment, or holy place, were the table of show- 

13 


14 


A More Excellent Ministry 


bread, the candlestick, or lamp-stand, and the altar 
of incense. . . . 

Beyond the inner veil was the holy of holies, where 
centered the symbolic service of atonement and in¬ 
tercession, and which formed the connecting link 
between heaven and earth. In this apartment was 
the ark, a chest of acacia wood, overlaid within and 
without with gold, and having a crown of gold about 
the top. . . . The cover of the sacred chest was 
called the mercy-seat. This was wrought of one solid 
piece of gold, and was surmounted by golden cheru¬ 
bim, one standing on each end. One wing of each 
angel was stretched forth on high, while the other 
was folded over the body in token of reverence and 
humility. . . . Above the mercy-seat was the sheki- 
nali, the manifestation of the divine presence; and 
from between the cherubim, God made known His 
will. . . . The law of God enshrined within the 
ark, was the great rule of righteousness and judg¬ 
ment. That law pronounced death upon the trans¬ 
gressor; but above the law was the mercy-seat, upon 
which the presence of God was revealed, and from 
which, by virtue of the atonement, pardon was 
granted to the repentant sinner. Thus in the work 
of Christ for our redemption, symbolized by the 
sanctuary service, ‘ ‘ mercy and truth are met together; 
righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 5,1 

MINISTRATION IN THE EARTHLY SANCTUARY 

The ministration of the earthly sanctuary con¬ 
sisted of two divisions; the priests ministered daily 
in the holy place, while once a year the high priest 
performed a special work of atonement in the most 
holy, for the cleansing of the sanctuary. 2 

1{t Patriarchs and Prophets,” pages 343-349. 

2 “Great Controversy,” page 418. 


15 


The Sanctuary and Its Services 

The daily service consisted of the morning and 
evening burnt offering, the offering of sweet incense 
on the golden altar, and the special offerings for in¬ 
dividual sins. And there were also offerings for sab¬ 
baths, new moons, and special feasts. 

Every morning and evening a lamb of a year old 
was burned upon the altar, with its appropriate meat¬ 
offering, thus symbolizing the daily consecration of 
the nation to Jehovah, and their constant dependence 
upon the atoning blood of Christ. God expressly 
directed that every offering presented for the serv¬ 
ice of the sanctuary should be “without blemish.” 
The priests were to examine all animals brought as 
a sacrifice, and were to reject every one in which 
a defect was discovered. Only an offering “without 
blemish could be a symbol of His perfect purity 
who was to offer Himself as “a lamb without blemish 
and without spot. ’ ’ The apostle Paul points to these 
sacrifices as an illustration of what the followers of 
Christ are to become. He says, “I beseech you there¬ 
fore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye pre¬ 
sent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable 
unto God, which is your reasonable service.” . . . 

The most important part of the daily ministration 
was the service performed in behalf of individuals. 
The repentant sinner brought his offering to the door 
of the tabernacle, and placing his hand upon the vic¬ 
tim’s head, confessed his sins, thus in figure trans¬ 
ferring them from himself to the innocent sacrifice. 
By his own hand the animal was then slain, and 
the blood was carried by the priest into the holy 
place and sprinkled before the veil, behind which 
was the ark containing the law that the sinner had 
transgressed. By this ceremony the sin was, through 
the blood, transferred in figure to the sanctuary. In 
some cases the blood was not taken into the holy place \ 


16 A More Excellent Ministry 

but the flesh was then to be eaten by the priest, as 
Moses directed the sons of Aaron, saying, “God hath 
given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation. 
Both ceremonies alike symbolized the transfer of the 
sin from the penitent to the sanctuary. 3 

Such was the work that went on, day by day, 
throughout the year. The sins of Israel were thus 
transferred to the sanctuary, and a special work be¬ 
came necessary for their removal. God commanded 
that an atonement be made for each of the sacred 
apartments. “He shall make an atonement for the 
holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children 
of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all 
their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of 
the congregation, that remaineth among them in the 
midst of their uncleanness.” An atonement was also 
to be made for the altar, to “cleanse it, and hallow it 
from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.’’ 

Once a year, on the great day of atonement, the 
priest entered the most holy place for the cleansing 
of the sanctuary. The work there performed com¬ 
pleted the yearly round of ministration. On the day 
of atonement, two kids of the goats were brought to 
the door of the tabernacle, and lots were cast upon 
them, “one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for 
the scapegoat.” The goat upon which fell the lot for 
the Lord was to be slain as a sin-offering for the 
people. And the priest was to bring his blood within 
the veil, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and 
before the mercy-seat. The blood was also to be 
sprinkled upon the altar of incense, that was before 
the veil. 

“And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the 
head of the live goat, and confess over him all the 
iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their 
311 Patriarchs and Prophets/ ’ pages 352-355. 


17 


The Sanctuary and Its Services 

transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon 
the head of the goat, and shall send him away by 
the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and the 
goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a 
land not inhabited. ” The scapegoat came no more 
into the camp of Israel, and the man who led him 
away was required to wash himself and his clothing 
with water before returning to the camp. 

This is the only sanctuary that ever existed on the 
earth, of which the Bible gives any information. This 
was declared by Paul to be the sanctuary of the first 
covenant. But has the new covenant no sanctuary? 

MINISTRY IN THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY 

Turning again to the book of Hebrews, the seek¬ 
ers for truth found that the existence of a second, 
or new-covenant sanctuary was implied in the words 
of Paul: . . . “Then verily the first covenant had 
ulso ordinances of divine service, and a worldly 
sanctuary.’ ’ And the use of the word “also” inti¬ 
mates that Paul has before made mention of this 
sanctuary. Turning back to the beginning of the 
previous chapter, they read: “Now of the things 
which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such 
an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the 
throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of 
the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the 
Lord pitched, and not man.” 

Here is revealed the sanctuary of the new cove¬ 
nant. The sanctuary of the first covenant was pitched 
by man, built by Moses; this is pitched by the Lord, 
not by man. In that sanctuary the earthly priests 
performed their service; in this, Christ, our great 
High Priest, ministers at God’s right hand. One 
sanctuary was on earth, the other is in heaven. , . . 

Important truths concerning the atonement are 
taught by the typical service. A substitute was ac- 
2 


18 A More Excellent Ministry 

cepted in the sinner’s stead; but the sin was not 
canceled by the blood of the victim. A means was 
thus provided by which it was transferred to the 
sanctuary. By the offering of blood, the sinner 
acknowledged the authority of the law, confessed his 
guilt in transgression, and expressed his desire for 
pardon through faith in a Redeemer to come; but he 
was not yet entirely released from the condemnation 
of the law. On the day of atonement the high priest, 
having taken an offering from the congregation, went 
into the most holy place with the blood of this of¬ 
fering, and sprinkled it upon the mercy-seat, di¬ 
rectly over the law, to make satisfaction for its claims. 
Then, in his character of mediator, lie took the sins 
upon himself and bore them from the sanctuary. 
Placing his hands upon the head of the scapegoat, he 
confessed over him all these sins, thus in figure trans¬ 
ferring them from himself to the goat. The goat 
then bore them away, and they were regarded as for¬ 
ever separated from the people. 

Such was the service performed “unto the ex¬ 
ample and shadow of heavenly things.” And what 
was done in type in the ministration of the earthly 
sanctuary, is done in reality in the ministration of 
the heavenly sanctuary. After His ascension, our 
Saviour began His work as our High Priest. Says 
Paul, “Christ is not entered into the holy places 
made with hands, which are the figures of the true; 
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence 
of God for us.” 4 

As Christ’s ministration was to consist of two great 
divisions, each occupying a period of time and having 
a distinctive place in the heavenly sanctuary,. so the 
typical ministration consisted of two divisions, the 
*“ Great Controversy, * * pages 418, 419, 4fi2, 413, 420. 


19 


The Sanctuary and Its Services 

daily and the yearly service, and to each a depart¬ 
ment of the tabernacle was devoted. 

As Christ at Ilis ascension appeared in the presence 
of God to plead Ilis blood in behalf of penitent be¬ 
lievers, so the priests in the daily ministration 
sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice in the holy place 
in the sinner’s behalf. 

The blood of Christ, while it ivas to release the 
repentant sinner from the condemnation of the laiv, 
was not to cancel the sin; it woidd stand on record 
in the sanctuary until the final atonement; so in the 
type the blood of the sin-offering removed the sin 
from the penitent, but it rested in the sanctuary 
until the day of atonement. [Italics ours .] 6 

The ministration of the priest throughout the year 
in the first apartment of the sanctuary, “within the 
veil” which formed the door and separated the holy 
place from the outer court, represents the work of 
ministration upon which Christ entered at His as¬ 
cension. It was the work of the priest in the daily 
ministration to present before God the blood of the 
sin-offering, also the incense which ascended with the 
prayers of Israel. So did Christ plead His blood 
before the Father in behalf of sinners, and present 
before Him also, with the precious fragrance of His 
own righteousness, the prayers of penitent believers. 
Such was the work of ministration in the first apart¬ 
ment of the sanctuary in heaven. . . . 

For eighteen centuries this work of ministration 
continued in the first apartment of the sanctuary. 
The blood of Christ, pleaded in behalf of penitent 
believers, secured their pardon and acceptance with 
the Father, yet their sins still remained upon the 
books of record. As in the typical service there was 
a work of atonement at the close of the year, so before 
““Patriarchs and Prophets /’ page 357. 


20 


A More Excellent Ministry 


Christ’s work for the redemption of men is com¬ 
pleted, there is a work of atonement for the removal 
of sin from the sanctuary. This is the service which 
began when the 2,300 days ended. At that time, as 
foretold by Daniel the prophet, our High Priest 
entered the most holy, to perform the last division of 
His solemn work,— to cleanse the sanctuary. 

As anciently the sins of the people were by faith 
placed upon the sin-offering, and through its blood 
transferred, in figure, to the earthly sanctuary; so 
in the new covenant the sins of the repentant are by 
faith placed upon Christ, and transferred, in fact, to 
the heavenly sanctuary. And as the typical cleans¬ 
ing of the earthly was accomplished by the removal 
of the sins by which it had been polluted, so the 
actual cleansing of the heavenly is to be accom¬ 
plished by the removal, or blotting out, of the sins 
which are there recorded. But before this can be 
accomplished, there must be an examination of the 
books of record to determine who, through repentance 
of sin, and faith in Christ, are entitled to the benefits 
of His atonement. The cleansing of the sanctuary 
therefore involves a work of investigation,— a work 
of judgment. This work must be performed prior 
to the coming of Christ to redeem His people; for 
when He comes, His reward is with Him, to give to 
every man according to his works. 0 

Then by virtue of the atoning blood of Christ, the 
sins of all the truly penitent will be blotted from 
the books of heaven. Thus the sanctuary will be 
freed, or cleansed, from the record of sin. In the 
type this great work of atonement, or blotting out of 
sins, was represented by the services of the day of 
atonement,— the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary, 
which was accomplished by the removal, by virtue of 
611 Great Controversy, ’ ’ pages 420-422. 


21 


The Sanctuary and Its Services 

the blood of the sin-offering, of the sins by which 
it had been polluted. 

As in the final atonement the sins of the truly peni¬ 
tent are to be blotted from the records of heaven, no 
more to be remembered or come into mind, so in’the 
type, they were borne away into the wilderness, for¬ 
ever separated from the congregation. 

Since Satan is the originator of sin, the direct in¬ 
stigator of all the sins that caused the death of the 
Son of God, justice demands that Satan shall suffer 
the final punishment. Christ’s work for the redemp¬ 
tion of men and the purification of the universe from 
sin, will be closed by the removal of sin from the 
heavenly sanctuary and the placing of these sins upon 
Satan, who will bear the final penalty. So in the 
typical service, the yearly round of ministration 
closed with the purification of the sanctuary and the 
confessing of the sins on the head of the scapegoat. 

Thus in the ministration of the tabernacle, and of 
the temple that afterward took its place, the people 
were taught each day the great truths relative to 
Christ’s death and ministration, and once each year 
their minds were carried forward to the closing 
events of the great controversy between Christ and 
Satan, the final purification of the universe from 
sin and sinners. 7 . 

7 ‘ 1 Patriarchs and Prophets, ’ ’ pages 357, 358. 


CHAPTER II 


AN OLD VIEW REVISED 

The doctrines advocated in the booklet 
“Cast Out” are based upon the following 
fundamental propositions, which are sub¬ 
versive of the position set forth in the pre¬ 
ceding chapter: 

1. That the ministry in the heavenly sanc¬ 
tuary covers the period from the fall of man 
to the close of probation; 

2. That the ministry in the first apartment 
covers a period of four thousand years, em¬ 
bracing the time from the fall of man to the 
crucifixion of Christ; 

3. That the ministry in the second apart¬ 
ment began with the ascension of Christ, and 
ends with the close of probation; 

4. That the ministry in the first apartment 
was carried forward under ihe Melchisedec 
priesthood, in which the ministering angels 
were assistants; 

5. That the ministry in the second apart¬ 
ment only was carried forward by Christ as 
our great High Priest; 

6. That the veil separating the holy from 
the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary 
consisted of a cordon of angels that for four 


23 


An Old View Revised 

thousand years separated the Father, who 
dwelt in the most holy place, from His Son, 
in consequence of the Son’s bearing man’s 
sins; 

7. That the rending of the veil in the 
earthly temple at the death of Christ was 
typical of the withdrawal of this cordon of 
angels, allowing the Son at His ascension to 
pass into the immediate presence of the 
Father; 

8. That the daily offering by the sinner 
represented only the prayer of the penitent, 
which was presented in the sanctuary above 
by the ministering angels; 

9. That the Lord’s goat, offered on the great 
day of atonement, represented preeminently 
the death of Jesus as the sin-bearer; 

10. That atonement for iniquity was made 
within the seventy weeks of Dan. 9:24, by 
Christ’s passing through the veil at His as¬ 
cension and sprinkling His blood on the 
mercy-seat; 

11. That in the type the defilement of the 
sanctuary was caused, not by the transference 
to the sanctuary of sin confessed over the 
sacrificial victim, but by the sinning of the 
sinner, whether or not his sin was ever con¬ 
fessed; 


24 A More Excellent Ministry 

12. That the atonement for iniquity dis¬ 
posed of man’s sin, and that the cleansing of 
the sanctuary involves only the blotting of 
Satan’s sin from the books of record, and the 
placing of his sin on his own head. 

These positions may be found stated in the 
words of the author of “Cast Out for the 
Cross of Christ,” as follows: 

From the fall of man, Christ became man’s sub¬ 
stitute, and being thus counted a sinner, there must 
be a ministry before the veil until He is in posses¬ 
sion of His own precious blood, with which to sprinkle 
the mercy-seat “within the veil .”—Page 45. 

Of that which we have spoken this is the sum: The 
daily services in the earthly sanctuary, up to the day 
of atonement, were an exact type of the work on be¬ 
half of the sinner in the heavenly sanctuary from 
creation to the coming of Christ; and the ministry in 
the holy of holies in the earthly sanctuary, was an 
exact facsimile of the work wrought on behalf of the 
sinner, on the great day of atonement, which began 
with the coming of the Lord, and ends with His sec¬ 
ond coming.— Page 56. 

Since the Melcliisedec or new covenant priesthood 
extends as far back as Abraham, it is only reasonable 
to conclude that it extends back to the fall of man 
and is contemporaneous with the gospel. . . . 

Since we have before proved that the Melchisedec 
priesthood was connected with the heavenly sanctu¬ 
ary, it follows that that sanctuary was not locked up 
for the first four thousand years of the gospel min¬ 
istry, but was open to the prayers of sinning men. 

Among the ministers connected with the heavenly 
sanctuary before the cross, we have the ministering 


An Old View Revised 25 

angels. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent 
forth to minister for them which shall be heirs of sal¬ 
vation ?”—Page 86. 

The veil in the earthly sanctuary was decorated 
with figures of angels, representing the real angels 
which guarded the approach to the throne of God, 
and it is before this cordon of living angels that the 
Melchisedec priesthood ministers from creation to the 
cross. For four thousand years, the sins of a world 
separated God’s only-begotten Son from Ilis place at 
the side of His Father on the throne. For four thou¬ 
sand years, Christ was barred from His Father’s face, 
because He was the sinner’s substitute. . . . 

At the moment of His Son’s death, when He had 
uttered that triumphant cry, “It is finished,” and 
His thorn-crowned head fell lifeless upon His breast, 
the hand of God, who had suffered the cruel separa¬ 
tion from His Son for four thousand years, on ac¬ 
count of that terrible thing called “sin,” tore the veil 
of the temple from top to bottom, not the first curtain, 
but the one which had separated the high priest, the 
type of God’s Son, from the throne of His Father’s 
glory; thereby saying in tragic tones to the angelic 
guard that had barred the way of the sinner’s sub¬ 
stitute, the Son of God, from the throne of His Fa¬ 
ther: “Stand aside! Make way for the home-coming 
of My Son. The debt is paid that separated My only- 
begotten Son from His place at My side.” When, 
therefore, Christ arose from the grave freed from sin 
(“He that is dead is freed from sin”), the way into 
the holiest was laid open, and the angelic guard stood 
waiting to pass the all-conquering world’s Redeemer 
on to the welcoming arms of Ilis waiting Father.— 
Pages 45, 46. 

There is a striking difference between the blood 
sprinkled “before the veil,” and that sprinkled 


26 A More Excellent Ministry 

“within the veil.” . . . The blood sprinkled “before 
the veil” was the blood which the priest had received 
from the hand of the repentant, believing sinner; the 
blood sprinkled “within the veil” was the blood of the 
goat chosen by the Lord, called “the Lord’s goat,” 
and stood for the high priest’s own blood. The blood 
sprinkled before the veil, inasmuch as it was brought 
by the sinner, was nothing more than the sinner’s 
confession of sin, and prayer for pardon through 
faith in the blood of Christ. It sustained the same re¬ 
lation to the death of Christ that the bread and wine 
of the Lord’s table sustain to-day to that same death. 
The blood sprinkled “within the veil” was not a 
prayer for pardon received at the hand of the sinner, 
but was the blood of the sinner’s substitute, which 
was the price of pardon. It is not the sinner who 
furnishes the price of pardon, but the sinner’s sub¬ 
stitute. The penalty of the law is not paid by the 
prayer of the penitent, but by the blood of his sub¬ 
stitute .— Pages 40, 41. 

Christ raised from the dead, stands in the position 
of the high priest, when on the day of atonement, he 
held in his hand the blood of the Lord’s goat. . . . 
Nothing is clearer than that the day of atonement 
began with the death of Christ. The Lord’s goat, 
typifying Christ’s death, was slain on the day of 
atonement; consequently Christ, in order to be the 
antitype, must Himself be slain on the day of atone¬ 
ment.— Page 53. 

. Inasmuch as it has been shown that the atonement 
for iniquity was made within the seventy weeks, it 
is evident that the cleansing of the sanctuary after 
1844 can not be the work of atonement for iniquity, 
for that work, according to the Scriptures, was ac¬ 
complished within the seventy weeks.— Page 72. 

It is the uncleanness of the sinner that defiles the 
sanctuary. The sanctuary is defiled before he con- 


An Old View Revised 


27 


fesses his uncleanness, and if he never confesses it 
and is cut off, still he hath defiled the sanctuary of 

the Lord. . . . 

The heavenly sanctuary was defiled as was the 
earthly, by the sinning of the sinner, and not by the 
sinner’s confession of that sin. His sin defiled the 
sanctuary whether he ever confessed it or not. . . . 

All the sins of men defiled the sanctuary and are 
cleansed by the blood of the sinner or his substitute. 
— Pages 58, 61, 62, 66. 

When Christ made the atonement within the seventy 
weeks, He made the atonement for the guilt of man, 
and not for the guilt of Satan, which was unpardon¬ 
able. It must be evident to the reader that when 
Christ made atonement at the mercy-seat on account 
of the iniquities of men, He did not make an atone¬ 
ment for the iniquities of Satan; and consequently 
man’s sin still remains on the books of record in the 
heavenly sanctuary, not now against man, but charged 
against the other guilty party, Satan.— Page 74. 

When a substitute is found for man, and this sub¬ 
stitute takes man’s place, and dies, his death atones 
for man’s share of the guilt of his sin. . . . 

But man’s sin still remains on the record books,— 
still defiles the sanctuary, not any longer against man, 
but against Satan, who is guilty of man’s sin, and 
so long as man’s sin defiles the sanctuary so long 
the sanctuary can not be said to have been cleansed. 
It is true that the atonement for iniquity disposed of 
man’s share of the guilt of that sin, but as it did not 
touch Satan’s share of that guilt, it remains in the 
sanctuary until the Judgment sits and it is placed 
upon the head of the original offender, and the sanc¬ 
tuary is cleansed.— Pages 75, 76. 


CHAPTER III 


GOOD THINGS TO COME 

In the book of Hebrews two covenants are 
considered,— one called the “first” or “old” 
covenant, which was made with the children 
of Israel at Horeb, when “God took them by 
the hand to lead them out of Egypt,” which 
covenant in a certain sense was in vogue to 
the crucifixion; the other called a “second” 
or “new” covenant, of which Christ is said 
to be the Mediator. 

In close relation to these two covenants, the 
apostle speaks also of two sanctuaries or 
tabernacles, in which was carried on priestly 
ministration. The one is called a “worldly 
sanctuary,” its priesthood a “Levitical priest¬ 
hood,” and its ministration is declared to be 
such as “could not make him that did The 
service perfect”; the other is “a greater and 
more perfect tabernacle,” in which Christ 
serves as our great High Priest, by whose 
“one offering He hath perfected forever them 
that are sanctified.” These two sanctuaries 
are related to each other as shadow and sub¬ 
stance. The earthly sanctuary was a type 1 of 

“‘Type. Theol. That by which something is prefigured; a 
prophetic similitude; opposed to antitype .”—Standard Dic- 

28 


29 


Good Things to Come 

the heavenly; its ministry a type of the heav¬ 
enly ministry; its priesthood a type of that 
carried on by our great High Priest; and its 
sacrifices of animals, the blood of which could 
not take away sin, a type of the perfect sac¬ 
rifice of Him who “ loved us, and washed us 
from our sins in His own blood.” Rev. 1:5. 

Notice that Christ as our great “High 
Priest, who is set on the right hand of the 
throne of the Majesty in the heavens,” is 
called also a “minister of the sanctuary, and 
of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, 
and not man.” Heb. 8:1, 2. It is further 
stated of Him, “Now hath He obtained a more 
excellent ministry, by how much also He is the 
Mediator of a better covenant, which was es¬ 
tablished upon better promises.” Verse 6. 
In His office of High Priest, officiating in the 
heavenly sanctuary, He is the Mediator of the 
new covenant. 

“Now even the first covenant had ordinances 
of divine service, and its sanctuary, a sanctu¬ 
ary of this world.” Heb. 9:1, A.R.V. Be¬ 
fore this earthly sanctuary was opened for 

tionary. “A figure or representation of something tg come; 
a token; sign; symbol; — correlative to antitype. ’ ’ In ‘ ‘ Im¬ 
port of Jewish Sacrifices, ” W. W. Washburn defines a type 
as a “visible representation of a future truth, a truth yet to 
be revealed “a sensuous prediction, an acted prophecy.’’— 
Page 37. 


30 


A More Excellent Ministry 


service, the covenant withe which it was closely 
related was ratified by the shedding' of blood. 
This ceremony is mentioned by the apostle in 
drawing a parallel between the earthly sanctu¬ 
ary as a type, and the heavenly as the anti¬ 
type. He declares: 

“Neither the first testament 2 was dedicated 
without blood. For when Moses had spoken 
every precept to all the people according to 
the law, he took the blood of calves and of 
goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hys¬ 
sop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the 
people, saying, This is the blood of the testa¬ 
ment which God hath enjoined unto you.” 
Heb. 9:18-20. 

Thus by the blood of animals was the old 
covenant ratified prior to the beginning of the ■ 
ministry in the sanctuary by the Levitical 
priesthood. The apostle continues: 

“Moreover he sprinkled with blood both 
the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the min¬ 
istry. And almost all things are by the law 

2 The reader will observe that sometimes the word 11 testa¬ 
ment’ 1 and at other times “ covenant” is used in the Author¬ 
ized Version. In the Revised Version, the word “covenant” J 
is uniformly employed in the text and “testament” in the 
margin, except in Heb. 9:16, 17, where the order is reversed. 

In the margin, however, we find this statement: “The Greek 
word here used signifies both covenant and testament.” The 
reader should therefore keep in mind the thought of the cove¬ 
nant, whichever word may be used in the text. We are using 
chiefly the Authorized Version. 


31 


Good Things to Gome 

purged with blood; and without shedding of 
blood is no remission.'’ Verses 21, 22. 

But it required something better than the 
blood of “calves and of goats" to ratify the 
covenant i ‘established upon better promises," 
and thus open the way for the ministry in the 
antitypieal sanctuary. This is emphatically 
stated by the apostle: 

“It was therefore necessary that the pat¬ 
terns of things in the heavens should be puri¬ 
fied with these; but the heavenly things them¬ 
selves with better sacrifices than these." 
“Christ being come an High Priest of good 
things to come, by a greater and more per¬ 
fect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is 
to say, not of this building; neither by the 
blood of goats and calves, but by His own 
blood He entered in once into the holy place, 
having obtained eternal redemption for us." 
Heb. 9:23, 11, 12. 

As in the first instance there was a close 
relation between the ratification of the cove¬ 
nant by the blood of calves and of goats, and 
the dedication of the tabernacle by the sprin¬ 
kling of blood, preparatory to its opening for 
service, so these scriptures clearly show the 
relation between the ratification of the new 
covenant by the blood of Christ, and the open- 


32 A More Excellent Ministry 

ing of the service in the heavenly sanctuary. 
It was “by His own blood,” that “He entered 
in once into the holy place.” 

But when was the blood shed by which 
Christ entered into the holy place? — Not until 
He died on the cross. It was the “precious 
blood of Christ” that sealed the new covenant, 
and that opened the way for Him to minister 
as High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. 

When Moses sprinkled the blood on the 
people, and said, “This is the blood of the 
testament which God hath enjoined unto you,” 
the first covenant was ratified. And this was 
a type of the ratification of the new covenant 
by the blood of Jesus. Of the cup which He 
gave to His disciples, Jesus said, “Drink ye 
all of it; for this is My blood of the new 
testament , which is shed for many for the re¬ 
mission of sins.” Matt. 26:27, 28. 

When therefore did the ministry in the 
antitypical sanctuary begin? — Most assuredly 
not until the blood was shed that opened the 
way into that sanctuary, and by which the new 
covenant was sealed, and this did not take 
place till Calvary was reached . 

Nevertheless it was the death of Christ that 
secured forgiveness for every penitent sin- 


33 


Good Things to Come 

ner who lived before the cross. 8 The apostle 
clearly states this truth: 

“For this cause He is the Mediator of the 
new testament , that by means of death, for 
the redemption of the transgressions that were 
under the first testament, they which are called 
might receive the promise of eternal inherit¬ 
ance.” Heb. 9:15. 

The plan of redemption, as revealed in the 
everlasting covenant of grace, rested on the 
sure promise of God. And God, “willing more 
abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise 
the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it 
by an oath. ” Thus the everlasting covenant 
of salvation through Christ rested upon “two 
immutable things, in which it was impossible 
for God to lie,”—His promise and His oath. 

Not until the Son of God came to earth in 
fulfilment of the promise of God, not until He 
could say, “It is finished,” and He bowed 
His head in death, was the price of man’s 
redemption paid, and the covenant ratified. 
It was by this supreme act that heaven was 
made accessible to man, and before all the uni¬ 
verse the Father and the Son were justified 
in Their dealing with the rebellion of Satan. 

3 For a more complete statement regarding the forgiveness of 
sin prior to the cross, see chapter 14, “From Eden to Cal¬ 
vary. ’ ’ 


3 


34 A More Excellent Ministry 

In the light of the cross of Calvary, the law 
of God is seen to be immutable and eternal. 

In the words of another: 

The kingdom of grace was instituted immediately 
after the fall of man, when a plan was devised for 
the redemption of the guilty race. It then existed 
in the purpose and by the promise of God; and 
through faith, men could become its subjects. Yet 
it was not actually established until the death of 
Christ. Even after entering upon His earthly mis¬ 
sion, the Saviour, wearied with the stubbornness and 
ingratitude of men, might have drawn back from the 
sacrifice of Calvary. In Gethsemane the cup of wo 
trembled in His hand. He might even then have 
wiped the blood-sweat from His brow, and have left 
the guilty race to perish in their iniquity. Had He 
done this, there could have been no redemption for 
fallen men. But when the Saviour yielded up His 
life, and with His expiring breath cried out, “It is 
finished,” then the fulfilment of the plan of redemp¬ 
tion was assured. The promise of salvation made to 
the sinful pair in Eden was ratified. The kingdom 
of grace which had before existed by the promise 
of God, was then established. 

Thus the death of Christ — the very event which 
the disciples had looked upon as the final destruc¬ 
tion of their hope — was that which made it forever 
sure. While it had brought them a cruel disappoint¬ 
ment, it was the climax of proof that their belief had 
been correct. The event that had filled them with 
mourning and despair, was that which opened the 
door of hope to every child of Adam, and in which 
centered the future life and eternal happiness of all 
God’s faithful ones in all the ages.— (< Great Contro¬ 
versy,” pages 347, 348. 


35 


Good Things to Come 

The faithful who lived before Christ, be¬ 
lieved that the covenant, established by God’s 
promise, would be ratified by the death of the 
coming Messiah; their faith laid hold upon 
the covenant-keeping God; they were sure that 
He would not disgrace the throne of His glory 
by failing to fulfil His word. On the strength 
of the promise and oath of God, restoration 
to the divine favor was freely extended to 
every repentant, believing soul who by faith 
saw the Lamb of God dying for the sins of the 
world, and who appropriated the efficacy of 
the healing stream. By faith the ancient 
worthies saw the Son of God enter “by His 
own blood” into the heavenly sanctuary, “hav¬ 
ing obtained eternal redemption” for them, 
and by faith they heard Him plead before His 
Father the merits of His own blood. So of 
every loyal follower of God it might be said as 
of Abraham, that he “believed God, and it 
was counted unto him for righteousness.” 
Rom. 4: 3. 

Those who lived before the cross were en¬ 
abled to endure hardship, privation, and tor¬ 
ture for their faith. Their loyalty, devotion, 
and fidelity to God have made them examples, 
to all succeeding generations, of the power of 
God’s grace to transform the heart and to 


36 A More Excellent Ministry 

beautify the life. And this was accomplished 
through their exercise of faith in God’s power 
to fulfil His promise, to keep the oath by 
which He had pledged Himself to give His 
Son to die, through whose blood the covenant 
might be eternally sealed. 

The work of Christ as x the Redeemer of the 
world was the great theme of prophecy. Con¬ 
cerning the salvation to be revealed through 
Christ, Peter declares, ‘‘ The prophets have 
enquired and searched diligently, who prophe¬ 
sied of the grace that should come unto you: 
searching what, or what manner of time the 
Spirit of Christ which was in them did sig¬ 
nify, when it testified beforehand the suffer¬ 
ings of Christ, and the glory that should fol¬ 
low.” 1 Peter 1:10, 11. 

In the death of the Son of God, the crisis 
in the great controversy of the ages had come, 
the eternal covenant was ratified, and the way 
was opened into the heavenly sanctuary. The 
expiation for the sins of all men having been 
made, that work which had to do with the for¬ 
giveness and final disposition of sin might 
now be carried forward. But Christ did not 
begin this ministration in the heavenly sanctu¬ 
ary, He did not in actual fact minister pardon 
as our great High Priest, until the shedding 


Good Things to Coyne 37 

of tli© blood that paid the price of man 's 
sin. Only thus could the covenant be ratified, 
and the way into the heavenly sanctuary be 
made manifest. The impossibility of such a 
ministration in the heavenly sanctuary before 
the death of Christ, will be more and more evi¬ 
dent as we study further the plan of salva¬ 
tion as illustrated in the sanctuary service. 

Of that law which could ‘ ‘ never with those 
sacrifices which they offered year by year con¬ 
tinually make the comers thereunto perfect ,'’ 
the apostle speaks as “ having a shadow of 
good things to come.” Heb. 10:1. This law 
which regulated the services of the sanctuary 
was given for the purpose of directing the 
minds of the people of God to the future, to 
a salvation “to be revealed." 

Christ was the foundation of the Jewish economy. 
The whole system of types and symbols was a com¬ 
pacted prophecy of the gospel, a presentation in which 
were bound up the promises of redemption .—“Acts 
of the Apostles,” page 14. 

That the application of this expression re¬ 
garding “the law having a shadow of good 
things to come," is not limited to that very 
small portion of that law which regulated the 
services on the day of atonement, is evident 
from the eighth verse, which speaks of “sac¬ 
rifice and offering and burnt offerings and of- 


38 A More Excellent Ministry 

fering for sin . . . which are offered by the 
laiv.” These certainly include the daily offer¬ 
ings as well as the annual offerings presented 
on the day of atonement. 

Again, in Col. 2:16, 17, we read: “Let no 
man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, 
or in respect of an holy day, or of the new 
moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a 
shadow of things to come; but the body is of 
Christ.” All these — and certainly they do 
not pertain to the service of the day of atone¬ 
ment alone — were a shadow of things to come. 
All pointed forward to the body, to Christ. 

But when the time was fulfilled, and the 
Saviour had entered upon His work as priest 
in the heavenly sanctuary, Paul wrote regard¬ 
ing Him: 

“But Christ having come a High Priest of 
the good things that are come , through the 
greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made 
with hands, that is to say, not of this crea¬ 
tion.” Heb. 9:11, A.R.V., margin. 

Do not these scriptures teach that the law 
which regulated the typical services pointed 
forward to Christ, to His death, His res¬ 
urrection, and His ministration for sin? The 
language of the apostle indicates that every¬ 
thing obtained for us by the ministry of 



Good Things to Come 39 

Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, from the 
time of His entrance upon His priestly work 
at His ascension, to the time when He will 
lay off His priestly robes and come as King 
of kings and Lord of lords, constitutes the 
‘‘good things to come” (but now present), 
and were shadowed forth in the whole sacrifi¬ 
cial system. In other words, the entire serv¬ 
ice of the heavenly sanctuary, that was pre¬ 
figured in the services of the earthly, was yet 
future till the time of the crucifixion of Christ, 
when the veil of the earthly temple was rent, 
and the words of Christ were fulfilled, “Be¬ 
hold, your house is left unto you desolate.” 

Entirely contradictory to this conclusion 
are the statements that the service in the first 
apartment of the heavenly sanctuary was in 
progress from the fall of man to the cross. 
If this were true, then the services in the first 
apartment on earth were not types of “good 
things to come,” but figures of a work then 
being carried on. Note the following ques¬ 
tion and its answer as given by the author 
of “Cast Out”: 

Was not the earthly sanctuary and its services a 
shadow of things to come? Yes, some of the things 
were yet to come, but not all .— Page 35. (Italics 

ours.) 


40 A More Excellent Ministry 

In fact, the only part of the services in the 
earthly sanctuary that are granted by the 
writer of the book under consideration to be 
future, or really typical of the work of Christ, 
is the services carried forward once a year, 
in the second apartment. But there is no 
such modification as this in the Scriptural 
statement, which speaks of “the law”—not 
a part of the law — as “ having a shadow of 
good things to come.” 

To assert that the “daily” ministration in 
the first apartment during the entire year is 
a representation of a work that had been 
going on in the heavenly sanctuary since the 
fall of man, is to presuppose a service in the 
sanctuary in which Christ serves as High 
Priest and as Mediator of the new covenant, 
before the blood was shed that ratified the 
covenant, by which blood, it is stated, He 
“entered in once into the holy place, having 
obtained eternal redemption for us.” This is 
also contrary to the type; for before the 
earthly sanctuary was opened, the first cove¬ 
nant was ratified by blood, and blood was 
sprinkled on the tabernacle and all the ves¬ 
sels of the ministry. It also seems to be out 
of harmony with the declaration of Paul that 
“a covenant is of force where there hath been 


Good Things to Come 41 

death: for doth it ever avail while he that 
made it liveth?” Heb. 9:16, 17, A.R.V., mar¬ 
gin. This • new view is also opposed to the 
assertion that “the law’’—the law under dis¬ 
cussion being the law that regulated the sanc¬ 
tuary service — had a i 1 shadow of good things 
to come/’ for it excludes all of that law ex¬ 
cept that portion which pertained to the serv¬ 
ice on one day in the year, the day of atone¬ 
ment. 


CHAPTER IV 


THE DEDICATION OF THE SANCTUARY 

The fact that the shedding of the blood of 
Christ, by which the new covenant was ratified, 
opened the way for the ministry of Christ to 
be carried forward in the heavenly sanctuary, 
has been set forth clearly in the preceding 
chapter. Additional evidence regarding the 
truths already established will be found in a 
study of the order of events in connection with 
the dedication of the earthly sanctuary. Be¬ 
fore the services in the earthly sanctuary were 
begun, Moses ‘ 4 took the blood of the calves and 
the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hys¬ 
sop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all 
the people, saying, This is the blood of the 
covenant which God commanded to you-ward. 
Moreover the tabernacle and all the vessels 
of the ministry he sprinkled in like manner 
with the blood.” Heb. 9:19-21, Bevised 
Version. 

Likewise before the heavenly sanctuary 
was opened for service, the new covenant was 
ratified by the blood of Christ, and the sanc¬ 
tuary, with all that pertains to its ministry, 
was solemnly dedicated to the sacred purpose 
to which they were henceforth to be devoted. 

42’ 




The Dedication of the Sanctuary 43 

“By His own blood He entered in once into 
the holy place.’’ 

A further study of the dedication of the 
earthly sanctuary will help us to understand 
when the new covenant sanctuary was dedica¬ 
ted and opened for service. 

After the sanctuary in the wilderness was 
set up, before the regular service began, there 
took place a solemn ceremony of anointing or 
consecrating of the tabernacle, and of all the 
vessels of ministry. 

In the fortieth chapter of Exodus, we find 
the record of the rearing of the tabernacle and 
the placing of the furniture, all of which was 
done, according to the direction of the Lord. 
The first article to be put in place was the 
ark. “On the first day of the first month shalt 
thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the 
congregation. And thou shalt put therein the 
ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with 
the veil. ” Verses 2, 3. Then follows instruc¬ 
tion concerning the table, the candlestick, the 
golden altar of incense, and the hanging of the 
door of the tent, the altar of burnt offering 
and the laver in the court, all of which were 
to be placed in their proper positions, and 
made ready for the opening service. Then 
Moses was directed: “Thou shalt take the 


44 A More Excellent Ministry 

anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and 
all that is therein, and slialt hallow it, and all 
the vessels thereof: and it shall be holy.” 
Verse 9. 

In Ex. 30: 26-29, the same anointing is men¬ 
tioned: “And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle 
of the congregation therewith, and the ark of 
the testimony, and the table and all his ves¬ 
sels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and 
the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt of¬ 
fering with all his vessels, and the laver and 
his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that 
they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth 
them shall he holy.” 

This instruction was carried out in every 
particular; for in the seventh chapter of 
Numbers we find a record of the offerings 
that the princes made, and we are told that 
these first offerings were brought “on the 
day that Moses had fully set up the taber¬ 
nacle, and had anointed it, and sanctified it, 
and all the instruments thereof, both the altar 
and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed 
them, and sanctified them.” Verse 1. Moses 
first anointed with holy oil the tabernacle and 
all that was therein — that is, the ark of the 
covenant, the table of sliowbread, the candle¬ 
stick, and the golden altar, with all the articles 


The Dedication of the Sanctuary 45 

that belonged to them; he then sprinkled the 
altar of burnt offering with the oil seven times, 
and anointed it, with all its utensils, and the 
laver, with its foot. 

Last of all some of the oil was poured on 
the head of Aaron, thus conferring on him 
“the crown of the anointing oil of his God.” 
Lev. 21:12. 

In the record of this dedication of the cove¬ 
nant and sanctuary as given in the book of 
Hebrews, it is stated, as we have seen, that 
Moses 61 sprinkled with blood both the taber¬ 
nacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.” 
Heb. 9: 21. 

Having called the attention of the reader to 
those scriptures that speak of the ceremony of 
dedication performed before the ministry could 
begin in the earthly sanctuary, we now con¬ 
sider the significance of this service. Since, 
as all will grant, the earthly sanctuary was a 
figure of the heavenly, and since the priests 
in the earthly sanctuary, who offered gifts 
according to the law, served “unto the ex¬ 
ample and shadow of heavenly things” (Heb. 
8:5), it therefore follows that the service in 
the new covenant sanctuary could not begin 
until it had been anointed. The anointing of 


46 A More Excellent Ministry 

the earthly was the type, the anointing of the 
heavenly the antitype. 

The time of this anointing is definitely 
pointed out by the prophet Daniel. The di¬ 
vine messenger sent to the prophet to make 
clear to his mind the meaning of the vision 
that had troubled him, declared, “Seventy 
weeks are determined upon thy people and 
upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, 
and to make an end of sins, and to make rec¬ 
onciliation for iniquity, and to bring in ever¬ 
lasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision 
and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” 
Dan. 9:24. 

The Hebrew words here translated “most 
holy’’ are ko-desh kodashim (holy of holies). 
The meaning of ko-desh, as given by Strong, 
is “a sacred place or thing.’’ It is rendered 
in the margin of the Revised Version, “a most 
holy place”; and in Isaac Leeser’s translation, 
“the most holy thing.” It occurs more than 
forty times in the Scriptures; and although in 
many instances God is spoken of as the “Most 
Holy” or the “Holy One,” never once in re¬ 
ferring to the Father or the Son is the word 
ko-desh used. It is used in speaking of the 
Sabbath, and when referring to holy places, 


The Dedication of the Sanctuary 47 

or holy objects, but never when referring to 
deity. 1 

Considerable controversy exists as to the meaning of the 
last phrase. The view generally held by modern critics with 
regard to ‘holy of holies’ is thus tersely put by Professor 
Bevan: ‘The last act is to anoint the most holy thing, i. e., to 
consecrate the altar in the temple, which, when the author 
wrote, was given up to the heathen worship. Some early Chris¬ 
tians and some medieval Jews discovered an allusion to the 
Messiah in this passage (see the Peshitto and Ben Ezra), but 
the phrase “holy of holies,” which occurs more than forty 
times in the Old Testament, never refers to persons, always to 
things, and is used especially of the altar of sacrifice (Ex 
29:36, 37; 30:29; 40:10).’ k 

“The statement is, however, incorrect. The phrase ‘holy of 
holies,’ inclusive of the passage before us, occurs forty-two 
times in the Hebrew Scriptures. In eleven cases (t. e., in more 
than a quarter of the whole) it describes the innermost sanc¬ 
tuary, the ‘holy of holies.’ In six passages it is used of the 
portion of the sacrifices eaten by the priests; in four places of 
the mincha; in three of the ‘sin-offering.’ In three passages it 
refers to the ‘trespass’ or ‘guilt-offering.’ It is twice used of 
the furniture of the tabernacle in general (Num. 4:4, 19), and 
once of the showbread (Lev. 24:9). Ezekiel employs the term 
once to denote holy things in general (Eze. 44:13) ; once of the 
sanctuary as a whole (Eze. 45:3); once also of the Levitical 
oblation of land (Eze. 48:12), and of the limits around the 
temple seen in his vision (Eze. 43:12). Notwithstanding, there¬ 
fore, the statement of critics that the phrase is ‘used specially 
of the altar of sacrifice, ’ the phrase is only used three times to 
denote the altar by itself (Ex. 29:37; 30:10; 40:10), and in 
another passage is used in reference to the altar in combination 
with the laver (Ex. 30:29 Daniel and His Prophecies,” 
pages 199, 200, by the Rev. Charles H. H. Wright, D.D.; Trin. 
Coll., Dub.; PL.A., Exeter Coll., Oxon; Ph.D. of the University 
of Leipzig; Donnellan lecturer in the University of Dublin 
(1880-1881); Bampton lecturer (1878); Grinfield lecturer on 
the Septuagint (1893-1897); and public examiner in Semitic 
languages in the Honours School, University of Oxford (1894, 

“In this time of salvation, Gabriel continues, not only the 
prophecies of Jeremiah, but likewise all visions and prophecies 
in general will be fulfilled (Luke 16:16; 2 Cor. 1:20) ; and not 
only will a new sanctuary be dedicated as Daniel prayed, but a 


48 


A More Excellent Ministry 


The inevitable conclusion therefore is that 
in this instance it refers to the “most holy” 
place; not alone to the second apartment, but 
to the entire sanctuary in heaven, which should 
be anointed near the close of the seventy 
weeks. “To anoint the most holy,” is the 
last of a series of expressions, the rest of 
which undoubtedly met their fulfilment in the 
life and death of Christ. 

After Christ had passed through the experi¬ 
ence necessary to fit Him for His priestly 
work, the all-sufficient offering having been 
made on Calvary, and accepted by the Father, 

most holy place where God would dwell with His people in a 
peculiar manner. ’ ’— 1 ‘ The Prophecies of Daniel, ’ ’ pages 97, 98, 
by Carl August Auberlen, Dr. Phil., Licentiate and Professor 
Extraordinarius of Theology in Basil. 

“ Without taking into view 1 Chron. 23:13, the words ko- 
desh Icodasliim are nowhere used of persons, but only of things. 
This meaning lies at the foundation of the passage in the book 
of Chronicles referred to, ‘that he should sanctify a ko-desh 
kodashim, anoint him (Aaron) to be a most holy thing.’ . . . 

‘ ‘ The words under examination say nothing of the people and 
the congregation which God will gather around the place of His 
gracious presence, but of the objective place where God seeks 
to dwell among His people and reveal Himself to them. The 
anointing is the act by which the place is consecrated to be a 
holy place of the gracious presence and revelation of God. If 
thus the anointing of a most holy is here announced, then by it 
there is given the promise, not of the renewal of the place 
already existing from of old, but of the appointment of a 
new place of God’s gracious presence among His people, a new 
sanctuary.”—“ Commentary on the Book of Daniel,” pages 
347, 348, by C. F. Keil, D.D., a well-known German Protestant 
exegete and commentator. 


The Dedication of the Sanctuary 49 

still the service could not begin in the heav¬ 
enly sanctuary until it had been anointed. 

In the type, not only holy oil, but also blood, 
was used in the dedication of the sanctuary. 
No other blood than that of Jesus can pos¬ 
sibly avail in any part of the working out of 
the great plan of salvation; therefore before 
the regular service of the true tabernacle 
could be carried forward, we must conclude 
that there was a sprinkling of that sanctuary 
and all its vessels with the blood that alone 
could be efficacious in any portion of the great 
work of atoning for sin. 2 

0 \ Tt is not the purpose of the writer to define any of the 
Scriptural terms that are not clearly defined in the Bible itself • 
but if any one is troubled over the thought of the literal blood 
of Christ being used in the dedication of the heavenly sanc¬ 
tuary, let him remember that such expressions as the following 
are often used in the Scriptures. They are used to represent 
the efficacy of the Saviour's all-sufficient sacrifice to cleanse the 
soul-temple of its uncleanness. 

The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all 
sin." 1 John 1:7. 

“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in 
His own blood." Rev. 1:5. 

‘ 1 These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have 
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the 
Lamb. * ’ Rev. 7:14. 

“How much more shall the blood of Christ . . . puree your 
conscience?" Heb. 9:14. 

“And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the 
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of 
Abel." Heb. 12:24. 

“Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people 
with His own blood, suffered without the gate." Heb. 13:12. 

“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, 


50 A More Excellent Ministry 

In the dedication of the first tabernacle, 
Moses performed the ceremony of sprinkling 
with blood the vessels of the ministry. But 
a study of the opening verses of the third 
chapter of Hebrews clearly indicates that 
Moses, as well as Aaron, was a figure of Him 
who was to come. Of the coming Saviour, 
Moses declared: 

“The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee 
a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy 
brethren, like unto me.” Deut. 18:15; Acts 
3:22; 7:37. For His work as prophet Christ 
was anointed at His baptism (Acts 10:36-38), 
in fulfilment of Daniel’s prophecy: “Unto the 
Messiah [anointed] the Prince shall be seven 

through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprin¬ 
kling of the blood of Jesus Christ.’’ 1 Peter 1:2. 

Since the people of God are “cleansed,” “washed,” and 
“sanctified,” by the “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,” 
and yet the literal blood is not used, may not the heavenly 
sanctuary, at its sanctification, its dedication, be said to be 
sprinkled with the blood of Jesus after that blood has really 
been shed on the cross, without the literal blood itself being 
actually employed? 

In the type, when sin was transferred to the sanctuary, the 
literal blood of the sacrificial offering was sprinkled before 
the veil; and when the sanctuary was cleansed, the blood of the 
Lord’s goat was actually sprinkled on the mercy-seat over the 
broken law of God; but in the antitype the Saviour — Himself 
the priest, Himself the victim — bearing the wounds in His 
hands and side, whence flowed the healing, cleansing stream, 
presents those wounds before His Father as our priest and ad¬ 
vocate, and the work of cleansing is accomplished. Thus in the 
dedication of the heavenly temple the “Lamb as it had been 
slain” (Rev. 5:6) is the one who performs the work of sancti¬ 
fication. 


The Dedication of the Sanctuary 51 

weeks, and threescore and two weeks." 
Dan. 9:25. 

Moses' work as a prophet, and Aaron's 
work as high priest, pointed forward to the 
work of Christ. And inasmuch as the thought 
is clearly emphasized in the book of Hebrews, 
that “by His own blood” Christ entered the 
holy places, it is certainly reasonable to con¬ 
clude that Christ Himself dedicated the heav¬ 
enly sanctuary. 

Notice again that the vessels of the sanc¬ 
tuary were not anointed with oil or sprinkled 
with blood until they had been put in their 
position. And the ark of the testimony was 
anointed after the veil had been hung. There¬ 
fore it was necessary for Moses to pass 
“within the veil” to sprinkle the sacred ark. 
And this was done before the regular service 
began in the first apartment. 

Then we conclude that this service, being 
a type of the dedication of the heavenly sanc¬ 
tuary, was performed at the time indicated in 
the prophecy of Daniel; that Christ Himself 
became the “Anointed One," at the time ap¬ 
pointed; and that before entering upon His 
work as High Priest in the first apartment, He 
sprinkled with His own precious blood the 
heavenly sanctuary, and the vessels of min- 


52 A More Excellent Ministry 

istry, and in this ceremony He first of all 
entered “within the veil” to anoint the ark 
of the testimony. 

Much stress is laid, by the author of “Cast 
Out,” upon the expression “within the veil,” 
as found in Heb. 6:19, 20, fifteen pages of the 
pamphlet being devoted exclusively to an ef¬ 
fort to prove that it means within the second 
veil or most holy apartment of the heavenly 
sanctuary. Hence it is asserted that at His 
ascension Christ began His ministry in the 
second apartment of the sanctuary instead of 
the first. This is one of the principal argu¬ 
ments relied upon to support the view ad¬ 
vanced. 

By the study of the record of the dedication 
of the earthly sanctuary, it is very apparent 
that Moses passed “within the veil” and 
poured the holy anointing oil upon the ark of 
the testament, and also sprinkled the blood of 
consecration upon it before the regular service 
in the sanctuary began. In like manner, Christ, 
after making His offering on Calvary, passed 
“within the veil” of the heavenly sanctuary 
and anointed the ark of the testament, and 
with His own blood performed the service of 
consecration. 


The Dedication of the Sanctuary 53 

Following the work of consecration per¬ 
formed by Moses, the high priest, “who served 
unto the example and shadow of heavenly 
things,” began his yearly round of service in 
the first apartment of the sanctuary. In like 
manner, following the consecration of the 
heavenly sanctuary, our great High Priest 
began His work in the first apartment. 

The dedication of the holy of holies — the 
sprinkling of the blood of the covenant upon 
the sacred ark — was the pledge that the work 
of atonement begun in the holy place would 
be completed on the great day of atonement, 
by the sprinkling of the blood of the Lord's 
goat on the mercy-seat, and the removal of the 
sins of Israel from the sanctuary. Likewise, 
the entrance of Christ “within the veil,” and 
the sprinkling of the blood of the everlasting 
covenant, constituted a pledge that He would 
surely complete the great work of atonement 
in the holy of holies in the investigative judg¬ 
ment, to begin at the end of the twenty-three 
hundred years of Dan. 8:14, or in 1844. 

Whenever a penitent sinner brought his 
offering, and in figure transferred his sin 
through the blood to the sanctuary, he looked 
forward to the time when the high priest would 
pass “within the veil,” with the blood of the 


54 A More Excellent Ministry 

Lord’s goat, and cleanse the sanctuary. Yea, 
more; by faith looking beyond the type to the 
antitype, he saw his great High Priest in the 
judgment, blotting his sin from the books 
of record. His hope was anchored to that 
“within the veil.” The blood of the new 
covenant, sprinkled in the holy of holies by 
our Forerunner, constitutes an assurance that 
He will complete His ministry in that apart¬ 
ment by blotting out from the books of record 
all the sins of the overcomer, and by confess¬ 
ing his name before the Father and before 
the angels. 


CHAPTER V 

THE OPENING SERVICE 

From the time of the anointing of the sanc¬ 
tuary and the priests, till Aaron began his 
work as high priest, a period of seven days 
elapsed. During this time he and his sons 
were to remain in the tabernacle. Moses said 
to them, 4 4 Ye shall not go out of the door of 
the tabernacle of the congregation in seven 
days, until the days of your consecration be 
at an end.” ' There they were to abide “day 
and night. ” Lev. 8:33, 35. 

“On the eighth day” Aaron was called to 
officiate for the first time in making sin-offer¬ 
ings for himself and for the people. This 
service was a very solemn one. As Aaron 
came from presenting this, his first offering 
in the sanctuary, he “lifted up his hand 
toward the people, and blessed them.” “And 
Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of 
the congregation, and came out, and blessed 
the people: and the glory of the Lord ap¬ 
peared unto all the people. And there came 
a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed 
upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: 
which when all the people saw, they shouted, 
and fell on their faces.” Lev. 9:22-24. 


55 


56 A More Excellent Ministry 

It will be noticed that as Aaron came out 
of the sanctuary, after having presented his 
offering, first, he blessed the people; secondly, 
the glory of the Lord appeared to all the 
people; and, thirdly, fire came out from before 
the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the 
burnt offering; and all the people, when they 
saw it, shouted, and fell on their faces. 

In the opening of the service in the temple 
built by Solomon, as recorded in 2 Chron. 
7:1-3, practically the same events took place. 
Let us now notice what occurred in the open¬ 
ing of the service in the heavenly sanctuary. 

When Mary recognized her Lord at the 
tomb, after His resurrection, she was about 
to embrace Him, but “Jesus saitli unto her, 
Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to 
My Father: but go to My brethren, and say 
unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and 
your Father; and to My God, and your God.” 
He could permit no human hand to touch Him 
until He had ascended to the Father, and the 
offering He had made upon the cross had 
been accepted. Later on, however, Christ did 
permit His disciples to embrace Him; for 
“saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, 
and behold My hands; and reach hither thy 


The Opening Service 57 

hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not 
faithless, but believing.” John 20:17, 27. 

When Christ ascended, and the waiting 
angels escorted Him to the presence of the 
Father, He presented there, not only His sac¬ 
rifice in the sinner’s behalf, but also the mul¬ 
titude of captives whom He had rescued from 
the grave. These He brought with Him as 
evidence of His victory over all the power of 
the enemy. He then returned to earth, and 
during the forty days that followed, fre¬ 
quently appeared to His disciples, “speaking 
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of 
God.” At the end of the forty days, He was 
taken up into heaven. 

Ten days were then spent by the disciples 
in the upper room in thorough heart-searching 
and confession of sin. “And when the day of 
Pentecost was fully come, they were all with 
one accord in one place. And suddenly there 
came a sound from heaven as of a rushing 
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where 
they were sitting. And there appeared unto 
them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat 
upon each of them. And they were all filled 
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with 
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utter- 
” Acts 2:1-4. 


ance. 


58 A More Excellent Ministry 

Here we have the antitype of that which 
occurred when the first offering was pre¬ 
sented in the earthly sanctuary. After the 
days of consecration were fulfilled, and the 
offering was presented, the high priest came 
out and blessed the waiting people. Now upon 
the expectant disciples fell the blessing of the 
Holy Spirit. As when, the first offering hav¬ 
ing been presented in the earthly sanctuary, 
the glory of God appeared to all the people, 
so now the Holy Ghost descended upon the 
waiting disciples, and “filled all the house 
where they were sitting/’ Then holy fire 
came forth from before the Lord and con¬ 
sumed the offering; now “there appeared unto 
them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat 
upon each of them/’ But instead of shout¬ 
ing and falling upon their faces, the disciples 
“began to speak with other tongues, as the 
Spirit gave them utterance.” 

Why was it that, when the first offering 
was presented in the typical service, the glory 
of God appeared in the sight of all the people? 
Why was it that fire came down from heaven, 
and consumed the offering? Was it not that 
all the people might know assuredly that then 
through the sanctuary there was opened a way 
to God, and that God would accept their of- 


59 


The Opening Service 

ferings in the sanctuary? They knew that 
the holy anointing oil had been sprinkled upon 
the sanctuary and all the vessels of the min¬ 
istry; they had witnessed the solemn offer¬ 
ings made by Moses and the shedding of the 
blood with which the sanctuary and the priests 
had been dedicated. For seven days, they had 
waited in expectation, while Aaron and his 
sons were hidden from their view. Then as 
the priest came forth, having presented the 
offering, they had unmistakable evidence that 
the ministry of their representative and the 
offerings he brought were acceptable to God. 
From that time forth, when they prayed, all 
eyes were to be turned toward the sanctuary. 

Likewise, to the waiting disciples, from 
whom were hidden the ministrations of their 
Representative in the heavenly sanctuary, God 
sent the glorious manifestations of Pentecost 
as an assurance that the one all-sufficient of¬ 
fering by which He would perfect “forever 
them that are sanctified’’ had been accepted, 
that Jesus had become their anointed Priest 
and Advocate before the Father, that ever 
after the more excellent ministry would be 
carried forward, and that the great High 
Priest would save to the uttermost all who 
should come unto God by Him. 


60 A More Excellent Ministry 

Notice bow this assurance is spoken of by- 
Peter in liis sermon on that day. He declares 
of Christ: “This Jesus hath God raised up, 
whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being 
by the right hand of God exalted, and having 
received of the Father the promise of the Holy 
Ghost, lie hath shed forth this, which ye noiv 
see and hear. . . . Therefore let all the 

house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath 
made that same Jesus, whom ye have cruci¬ 
fied, both Lord and Christ,” —the Anointed 
One. Acts 2:32-36. The demonstration on 
the day of Pentecost was, then, to the dis¬ 
ciples an evidence by which they might (( know 
assuredly” that God had made Jesus their 
anointed Priest. 

Christ’s ascension to heaven was the signal that His 
followers were to receive the promised blessing. For 
this they were to wait before they entered upon their 
work. When Christ passed within the heavenly gates, 
He was enthroned amidst the adoration of the angels. 
As soon as this ceremony was completed, the Holy 
Spirit descended upon the disciples in rich currents, 
and Christ was indeed glorified, even with the glory 
which He had with the Father from all eternity. The 
Pentecostal outpouring was Heaven 9 s communication 
that the Redeemer’s inauguration was accomplished. 
According to His promise He had sent the Holy Spirit 
from heaven to His followers, as a token that He had, 
as priest and king, received all authority in heaven 
and on earth, and was the Anointed One over His 


The Opening Service 61 

people. —“The Acts of the Apostles,” by Mrs. E. G. 
White, pages 38, 39. 

Thus do the events connected with the won¬ 
derful outpouring of the Spirit on the day of 
Pentecost correspond perfectly with the cere¬ 
monies in connection with the dedication of the 
earthly sanctuary, and the beginning of the 
priestly ministration. And this is in perfect 
harmony with the scriptures that reveal 
Christ as entering upon His priestly ministry 
at the time of the anointing of the heavenly 
sanctuary, having “obtained eternal redemp¬ 
tion for us.” 


CHAPTER VI 

THE AARONIC PRIESTHOOD A TYPE OF CHRIST 

That the priestly ministration could not 
begin in the heavenly sanctuary until the rati¬ 
fication of the everlasting • covenant by the 
death and resurrection of Christ, has been 
clearly set forth in preceding chapters of this 
book. Prior to that time the repentant sin¬ 
ner was justified by his faith in a Saviour 
afterward to be revealed, who should minis¬ 
ter in his behalf. 

Those who advocate the new views on the 
sanctuary question, maintain that during the 
four thousand years from the fall of man to 
the cross, a priestly ministry was carried on 
in the first apartment of the heavenly sanc¬ 
tuary. They argue that unless there were 
such a ministry, those living in that period 
could not receive pardon for sin. The evi¬ 
dence is convincing that Christ did not begin 
His priestly work for sinners until after His 
resurrection, therefore it could not be proved 
that He had charge of such a ministry before 
the cross. However, from the passages of 
Scripture that declare Christ to be a priest 
after the order of Melcliisedec, the conclu¬ 
sion is drawn that Melchisedec must have 


62 


Aaronic Priesthood a Type of Christ 63 

been a priest in the heavenly sanctuary, carry¬ 
ing on the work in the first apartment. 

It is strongly intimated that those who do 
not recognize Melchisedec as a priest in the 
heavenly sanctuary must see in him only a 
“sinning, dying man,” that they ‘ 4 degrade 
the priesthood of Melchisedec,’’ or “spend 
their time in trying to show how insignificant 
Melchisedec is.” It is then assumed that if 
Melchisedec was not a mortal man, his priest¬ 
hood was in the heavenly sanctuary, that it 
“extends back to the fall of man, and is con¬ 
temporaneous with the gospel.” 

But these conclusions are not a necessary 
alternative, and their acceptance involves 
many difficulties. 

If Melchisedec as priest ministered for four 
thousand years in the first apartment of the 
heavenly sanctuary, and if “the daily services 
in the earthly sanctuary up to the day of 
atonement were an exact type of the work on 
behalf of the sinner in the heavenly sanctuary 
from creation to the coming of Christ” (“Cast 
Out,” page 56), we must conclude that none 
of the services during all the year, save on 
the day of atonement — and only a few min¬ 
utes of that day — were in any sense typical 
of the work of Christ as our High Priest, or of 


64 A More Excellent Ministry 

His atoning sacrifice. How could the work 
of the high priest in the first apartment rep¬ 
resent the work of a high priest who was to 
minister in the second apartment only? We 
shall see later that the author himself virtually 
accepts this inevitable conclusion. 

If it was necessary that the Son of 'God, 
in order to act as high priest for the human 
race, should he “made like unto His breth¬ 
ren,” “in all things,” and be “tempted in all 
points like as we are,” how could a heavenly 
being who had not passed through such an 
experience minister for so long a period in 
the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary? 
There is no evidence that Melchisedec ever 
received such a preparation for the office of 
a priest in heaven. Even though it be granted 
that he was a visitant to this world in the 
days of Abraham, this could not be said to 
have been a preparation for a work that he 
had already carried on for nearly two thou¬ 
sand years. 

In the type, the same high priest who had 
charge of the daily ministration, ministered 
also in the holy of holies on the day of atone¬ 
ment. 

Nor can it be true to the type if, to avoid 
these difficulties, it be assumed that Melchise- 


Aaronic Priesthood a Type of Christ 65 

dec was but a common priest; for this would 
leave the world with no high priest during 
the greater part of the sanctuary services. 
And how then could it be said that Christ is 
called a high priest “ after the order of Mel- 
chisedec”? 

In the earthly sanctuary, the type, the 
duties of the high priest were not limited 
to the services on the day of atonement. 
Throughout the year he ministered daily in 
the first apartment. This is clearly stated 
in Scripture: 

“Such an high priest became us, . . . who 
needeth not daily , as those high priests, to 
offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and 
then for the people’s /’ Heb. 7:26, 27. 

It is also worthy of note in this connection 
that here is a clear intimation that “those 
high priests in their “daily” ministration 
with the blood of sacrifices, were a type of 
Christ. Then how can it be that this “daily” 
ministration represents a priestly ministry 
then carried on in heaven, with no blood to 
offer, and under another priesthood than that 
of Christ? 

In some of the duties that pertained to the 
work in the first apartment, the high priest 
was assisted by his sons, but he had charge 


5 


66 A More Excellent Ministry 

of all the services. The Lord gave the fol¬ 
lowing instruction, not to a group of co¬ 
ordinate priests, but to Aaron: 

“Thou and thy sons and thy father’s house 
with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanc¬ 
tuary: and thou and thy sons with thee shall 
bear the iniquity of your priesthood.” “Thou 
and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest’s 
office for everything of the altar, and within 
the veil; and ye shall serve: I have given your 
priest’s office unto you as a service of gift: 
and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be 
put to death.” Num. 18:1, 7. 

Others of the tribe of Levi were permitted, 
under the supervision of the priests, to as¬ 
sist in caring for the tabernacle, but there 
were many things that could be done only by 
the priests, and some of these pertained only 
to the high priest . 

The high priest alone could act as mediator 
between God and His people. When he went 
in “before the Lord,” Aaron was to “bear 
the names of the children of Israel in the 
breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when 
he goeth in unto the holy place, for a me¬ 
morial before the Lord continually.” Ex. 
28: 30, 29. So Christ, our great High Priest, 
to whom alone is committed the mediatorial 


Aaronic Priesthood a Type of Christ 67 

work in behalf of His people, while pleading 
His blood before the Father in the sinner’s 
behalf, bears upon the palms of His hands 
and in His heart the name of the repentant, 
believing sonl. Isa. 49:16. In this breast¬ 
plate which was worn by the high priest only, 
were also the stones of urim and thummim. 

There were other differences between the 
garments of the high priest and those of the 
ordinary priests, all of which indicated that 
in a special sense he was a representative of 
Him who should appear in behalf of the hu¬ 
man family in the heavenly courts. Notice 
how the office of Christ — not of Melchisedec 
— was prefigured in the miter which was worn 
by the high priest only, and that throughout 
the year: 

“It shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that 
Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, 
which the children of Israel shall hallow in 
all their holy gifts; and it shall be always 
upon his forehead, that they may he accepted 
before the Lord.” Ex. 28:38. 

Unless, therefore, we violate the type, we 
must conclude that he who ministers as our 
great high priest in the first apartment of 
the sanctuary in heaven is one who “bears 
iniquity.” And if Christ be not that high 


68 A More Excellent Ministry 

priest, there must have been another who 
assumed guilt for fallen man. 

To the Aaronic priesthood was entrusted the 
care of the lamps. In Ex. 30: 7, 8, we read: 
“And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense 
every morning: when he dressetli the lamps, 
he shall burn incense upon it. And when 
Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall 
burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense be¬ 
fore the Lord throughout your generations.” 

So in the first chapter of Revelation, He 
whom Aaron as high priest prefigured is in¬ 
troduced to us thus: “I saw seven golden 
candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven 
candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, 
clothed with a garment down to the foot, and 
girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” 
Rev. 1:12, 13. The fact that the Son of man 
was seen wearing a golden girdle would in¬ 
dicate that He was officiating in the first 
apartment of the sanctuary, as when the high 
priest officiated in the second apartment he 
wore a linen girdle. Lev. 16: 2, 4. Again in 
the fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation 
is given a description of the throne of God, 
“and there were seven lamps of fire burning 
before the throne,’’ and “in the midst of the 


Aaronic Priesthood a Type of Christ 69 

throne . . . stood a Lamb as it had been 
slain.” Rev. 4:5; 5:6. 

Other points will doubtless suggest them¬ 
selves to the reader, showing that the earthly 
high priest, in his whole ministry , was a type 
of Christ. 

This, we believe, is clearly demonstrated, 
however; for none other than Christ bears 
the name of his people upon his heart; none 
other “bears iniquity’’ that is wholly imputed. 
Christ is the one who is seen wearing a golden 
girdle, and is seen standing in the midst of the 
seven lamps of fire in the first apartment of 
the heavenly sanctuary. 

“No man taketh this honor unto himself, 
but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. 
So also Christ glorified not Himself to be 
made an high priest.” Ileb. 5:4, 5. 


CHAPTER VII 

REQUISITES FOR THE PRIESTLY OFFICE 

Haying established the fact that the service 
in the heavenly sanctuary began with the 
anointing of that sanctuary after the cruci¬ 
fixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, 
and was marked by the outpouring of the 
Spirit at Pentecost, we now take up the con¬ 
sideration of two things that were essential 
in order that He might be a perfect high 
priest. First, He must have — 

A HUMAN PERSONALITY 

“ Wherefore in all things it behooved Him 
to be made like unto His brethren, that He 
might be a merciful and faithful high priest 
in things pertaining to God, to make recon¬ 
ciliation for the sins of the people. For in 
that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, 
He is able to succor them that are tempted.’’ 
Heb. 2:17, 18. 

Jesus was always merciful and faithful, but 
He was not always a mediatorial priest. In 
order that He might be a merciful and faith¬ 
ful high priest, it was necessary that He 
should “be made like unto His brethren”; 
He must Himself suffer, being tempted, that 
He might know how to succor them that are 


70 


Requisites for the Priestly Office 71 

tempted. The same thought is emphasized 
in Heb. 4:15, 16: 

“For we have not an high priest which can 
not be touched with the feeling of our infirmi¬ 
ties; but was in all points tempted like as we 
are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come 
boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may 
obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time 
of need.” 

While it is possible that Christ could have 
been touched with the feelings of our in¬ 
firmities, without Himself becoming infirm, 
and that He might have known how to sym¬ 
pathize with the sick and suffering, without 
Himself bearing our sickness, yet we never 
could have grasped that fact unless we knew 
that He had actually passed through that ex¬ 
perience. In order that He might become the 
Captain of our salvation He must have an 
experimental knowledge of the conflict through 
which we pass. 

This was true of the earthly priests. “Every 
high priest taken from among men is ordained 
for men in things pertaining to God, that he 
may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: 
who can have compassion on the ignorant, 
and on them that are out of the way; for that 
he himself also is compassed with infirmity.” 
Heb. 5:1, 2. 


72 A More Excellent Ministry 

Speaking of the operation of this law upon 
the human heart, the apostle Paul says: 
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the 
God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all 
our tribulation, that we may be able to com¬ 
fort them which are in any trouble, by the 
comfort wherewith we ourselves are com¬ 
forted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ 
abound in us, so our consolation also abound- 
eth by Christ.” 2 Cor. 1:3-5. 

Having known the power of sin and the 
blessedness of deliverance, the earthly priest 
could encourage other troubled hearts; he 
could comfort them that were in any trouble, 
by the comfort wherewith he himself had been 
comforted of God. 

“So also Christ glorified not Himself to be 
made an high priest; but He that said unto 
Him, Thou art My Son, to-day have I begotten 
Thee. As He saith also in another place, Thou 
art a priest forever after the order of Mel- 
chisedec. Who in the days of His flesh, when 
He had offered up prayers and supplications 
with strong crying and tears unto Him that 
was able to save Him from death, and was 
heard in that He feared; though He were a 
Son, yet learned He obedience by the things 


Requisites for the Priestly Office 73 

which He suffered; and being made perfect, 
He became the author of eternal salvation 
unto all them that obey Him.” Heb. 5:5-9. 
Through the sufferings which Jesus endured 
in the flesh He was fitted to become a merciful 
and faithful high priest. “For in that He 
Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is 
able to succor them that are tempted . 99 

The religion of Christ has something to 
meet every human need. In the hour of temp¬ 
tation and trial, the hour of our greatest 
trouble, our deepest sorrow, there is some¬ 
thing for which the heart longs that can be 
found in none other than the Saviour of the 
world. He met every experience that can 
ever become ours, and He found for Himself 
in the divine love, the best there is. Thus He 
showed what we may find in our times of need, 
and how we may find it. 

In the hour of loneliness, the eye of faith 
turns to the One who was lonely, but who, 
when all had forsaken Him, was not alone, 
because God was with Him. In the hour of 
sorrow, when all human sympathy fails, we 
look to the One who sorrowed oft alone, to 
the One whose heart was touched with the 
bitterness and wo of human life, to the One 
who, standing beside the grave of Lazarus, 


74 A More Excellent Ministry 

wept, and who, through the weary years of 
the reign of death, has wept with all who 
weep. In the hour of our greatest conflict 
with the powers of darkness we may remem¬ 
ber that He “was in all points tempted like 
as we are, yet without sin.” He speaks to 
us, saying, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, 
all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and 
there is none else.” “All power is given unto 
Me in heaven and in earth.” “Lo, I am with 
you alway, even unto the end of the world.” 
Knowing this, may we not confidingly commit 
our cases to this great High Priest, who “is 
able also to save them to the uttermost that 
come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth 
to make intercession for them”? Heb. 4:15; 
Isa. 45:22; Matt. 28:18, 20; Heb. 7:25. 

Having the first essential qualification for 
the office of high priest — a human personality 
in which He suffered here below — Christ was 
fitted to become the author of our salvation, 
and to receive the dignity, and to discharge the 
office, of both king and high priest over His 
people. Not until He was thus qualified could 
He begin the actual work of ministry in the 
heavenly sanctuary. 

Applying these principles to the angels, how, 
we ask, could they act as priests in the heav- 


Requisites for the Priestly Office 75 

enly sanctuary? They could serve in the ca¬ 
pacity of ministering spirits; they could offer 
the prayers of God’s people before the throne, 
and could communicate His will to man; but 
they could not act in the capacity of priests. 

A DIVINE COMMISSION 

Another requirement for the discharge of 
the high priesthood by our Lord was that He 
should be constituted high priest by the oath 
of God. Christ took not this honor to Him¬ 
self, but solemnly received it from God. 

“Christ glorified not Himself to be made 
an high priest; but He that said unto Him, 
Thou art My Son, to-day have I begotten 
Thee. As He saith also in another place, 
Thou art a priest forever after the order of 
Melchisedec.” 

“After the similitude of Melchisedec there 
ariseth another priest, who is made, not after 
the law of a carnal commandment, but after 
the power of an endless life. For He testi¬ 
fied, Thou art a priest forever after the order 
of Melchisedec. . . . And inasmuch *as not 
without an oath He was made priest: (for 
those priests were made without an oath; but 
this with an oath by Him that said unto Him, 
The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art 


76 A *More Excellent Ministry 

a priest forever after the order of Mel- 
chisedec).” 

‘ ‘ For the law maketh men high priests which 
have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which 
was since the law, maketh the Son, who is 
consecrated forevermore/’ Heb. 5:5, 6; 7: 
15-17, 20, 21, 28. 

The above scriptures certainly make it very 
plain that Jesus became high priest by the 
oath of God; that the oath was necessary be¬ 
fore He should exercise the priestly office. 

The question at once arises, When was the 
oath made that constituted Him a high priest? 
The last scripture quoted states that this oath 
“was since the law.” The law under con¬ 
sideration in this chapter is “the law” that 
“maketh men high priests which have in¬ 
firmity.” That law continued in force until 
the antitypical offering was presented on Cal¬ 
vary, until the veil of the temple was rent by 
the divine hand. Speaking of that law, the 
sacred writer says: 

“For there is a disannulling of a foregoing 
commandment because of its weakness and 
unprofitableness (for the law made nothing 
perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a 
better hope, through which we draw nigh 
unto God.” Heb. 7:18, 19, A.E.V. 


Requisites for the Priestly Office 77 

The ritual law that made men priests, with 
its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be per¬ 
formed by the Hebrews until type met antitype 
in the death of Christ, the Lamb of God that 
taketh away the sin of the world. This law 
Christ took “out of the way, nailing it to Ills 
cross.’ 9 Col. 2:14. 

It therefore follows that Christ was not 
made a priest by the oath of God till after 
His resurrection. It would seem that the two 
events — the resurrection of Christ and His 
being made a priest by the oath of God — 
must have been contiguous to each other; for 
we read: “He that said unto Him, Thou art 
My Son, to-day have I begotten Thee. As He 
saith also in another place, Thou art a priest 
forever after the order of Melohisedec . 9 9 Heb. 
5:5, 6. Jesus was “declared to be the Son of 
God with power, according to the spirit of 
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” 
Rom. 1:4. 

The time when Christ was made a high 
priest is still further established by the 110th 
Psalm, the first verse of which reads thus: 

“The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou 
at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies 
Thy footstool.” 


78 A More Excellent Ministry 

The psalmist continues: “The Lord shall 
send the rod of Thy strength out of Zion: 
rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies. Thy 
people shall be willing in the day of Thy 
power, in the beauties of holiness from the 
womb of the morning: Thou hast the dew of 
Thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will 
not repent, Thou art a priest forever after 
the order of Melchisedec . 9 9 Ps. 110:2-4. 

The time when this scripture applies is made 
clear by a comment of the writer of the book 
of Hebrews on the first verse of this psalm. 
He declares, “This Man, after He had offered 
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the 
right hand of God; from henceforth expecting 
till His enemies be made His footstool.” 
Heb. 10:12, 13. 

Then it is clear that this oath, made when 
Christ was bidden to sit at the right hand of 
God, must have been “after He had offered 
one sacrifice for sins forever / 1 

Let us notice again the statement of the 
apostle in Heb. 7:16 that Christ was made a 
priest “after the power of an endless life.’ ? 
It is after His triumph over death, that we 
hear Him saying, “I am He that liveth, and 
was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, 
Amen; and have the keys of hell and of 


Requisites for the Priestly Office 79 

death.” Rev. 1:13, 18. Not till He had 
passed through the grave could it be said of 
Him: “This Man, because He continueth ever, 
hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore 
He is able also to save them to the uttermost 
that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever 
liveth to make intercession for them.” Heb. 
7:24, 25. 

No other priest could perform such a service 
in behalf of man in the heavenly temple; hence 
it was reserved for Jesus, the Son of God, to 
open that service, and to carry forward that 
priesthood after the order of Melchisedec. 
With this priesthood He is now invested, for 
which He was fitted by His life of suffering, 
His sacrificial death, and His triumphant re¬ 
turn to God. 

In his “Commentary on the Hebrews,” 
pages 368, 369, Delitzsch says: 

It is not Jesus as the incarnate sufferer, but Jesus 
as the eternal priest after the order of Melchisedec, 
as the risen and exalted One, who is here [Heb. 7:22] 
spoken of as an egguos [surety]. And He is so called 
because that new relation between God and man, 
which is the result of His great self-offering here, has 
now in Him, as our forerunner in the heavenly sanc¬ 
tuary (6:20), and there royally crowned with glory 
and honor (2 : 9), its personal security for continuance 
and completion. As truly as He is priest and king, 
so assuredly will the promises of the covenant be ful- 


80 A More Excellent Ministry 

filled in us,— a covenant which, in distinction from 
the impotence of that of Sinai, has for its objects true 
perfection and eternal realities — free, unclouded 
communion with God — eternal glory. Our hope rises 
upwards continually to Him; in Him it sees itself 
accomplished. The oath in the psalm which makes 
Him priest is the sign of a promise, not of a com¬ 
mandment. His everlasting priesthood is not a mere 
office committed to Him, but a solemnly recognized 
possession obtained in the way of suffering. And 
all He has obtained was obtained for us. He exists 
and lives for us eternally. His indissoluble life as 
priest and king is the indissoluble bond which unites 
us with God, and assures us of the endurance of this 
blissful fellowship. 

Speaking further of the mediatorial work 
of Christ, Delitzsch says: 

Its foundation of right is the atoning sacrifice once 
for all made here upon the cross; its continual motive 
is that communion of sympathy into which incarnate 
love has vouchsafed to enter with our infirmities and 
sorrows; its method of procedure is not a mere silent 
presentation of Himself by the Redeemer before God, 
but an eloquent intercession on our behalf in refer¬ 
ence to each individual among His redeemed, and 
every single case of need; and finally, its fruit is a 
perpetual maintenance of our relation of grace 
towards God, and a perpetually renewed removal of 
every hindrance and shadow cast by sin. The Medium 
and Mediator in the whole work of divine love is the 
incarnate Son who now, after His great sacrifice com¬ 
pleted here, remains a priest forever in the sanctuary 
of God, being above the Levitical, earthly conditioned, 
legally constituted, and, on account of human mor¬ 
tality, ever-shifting priesthood of the law, as the one 


Requisites for the Priestly Office 81 

great royal Priest and priestly King after the order 
of Melchisedec. 

Jesus, as such a Priest, is the foundation and the 
goal of a better hope, surety of a nobler covenant, the 
eternal and all-perfect Helper, and ever-living repre¬ 
sentative of those who enter into communion with 
God through Him.— Pages 372, 373. 

There is a mystery in human hearts; 

And though we be encircled by a host 
Of those who love us well and are beloved, 

To every one of us from time to time 
There comes a sense of utter loneliness. 

Our dearest friend is “stranger” to our joy, 

And can not realize our bitterness. 

“There is not one who really understands,— 

Not one to enter into all I feel;” 

Such is the cry of each of us in turn. 

We wander in a “solitary way,” 

No matter what or where our lot may be; 

Each heart, mysterious even to itself, 

Must live its inner life in solitude. 

And would you know the reason why this is? 

It is because the Lord desires our love. 

In every heart He wishes to be first; 

He therefore keeps the secret key Plimself, 

To open all its chambers, and to bless 
With perfect sympathy and holy peace 
Each solitary soul that comes to Him. 

So, when we feel this loneliness, it is 
The voice of Jesus, saying, “Come to Me;” 

And every time we are “not understood,” 

It is a call for us to come again, 

For Christ alone can satisfy the soul; 

And those who walk with Him from day to day 
Can never have a “solitary way.” 


6 


82 A More Excellent Ministry 

And when beneath some heavy cross you faint, 
And say, “I can hot bear this load alone,” 
You say the truth. Christ made it purposely 
So heavy that you must return to Him. 

The bitter grief which “no one understands,” 
Conveys a secret message from the King, 
Entreating you to come to Him again. 

The Man of Sorrows understands it well; 

In all points tempted, He can feel with you. 
You can not come too often or too near, 

The Son of God is infinite in grace; 

His presence satisfies the longing soul; 

And those who walk with Him from day to day 
Can never have a “solitary way.” 


CHAPTER VIII 


CHRIST PREFIGURED IN THE DAILY SACRIFICES 

The sanctuary built by Moses at Sinai was 
a shadow “of the sanctuary, and of the true 
tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not 
man.” All that pertained to the earthly was 
but “patterns of things in the heavens.” “For 
Christ is not entered into the holy places 
[“ sanctuary/’ Syriac translation] made with 
hands; which are the figures of the true; but 
into heaven itself, now to appear in the pres¬ 
ence of God for us.” Heb. 8:2, 5; 9:9, 23, 24. 

The service in the earthly sanctuary was 
also typical of that carried forward by our 
great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. 
This is just as true of the daily ministration 
in the first apartment, or holy place, as of 
that performed on the great day of atonement 
in the second apartment, or most holy place, 
“within the veil.” The ancient priesthood 
served “unto the example and shadow of heav¬ 
enly things.” The whole law regulating the 
service was “a shadow of good things to 
come. ’ ’ 

Throughout the year there was carried for¬ 
ward in the holy place a daily ministration 
which was a shadow of the ministry in the 

83 




84 A More Excellent Ministry 

holy place of the heavenly temple. In the type 
this ministry occupied all but one day of the 
year. It is this service in the first apartment 
of which the apostle speaks when he says: 
“ Every priest standeth daily ministering 
and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices.” 
“Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, 
to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and 
then for the people’s.” Heb. 10:11; 7:27. 

This daily service, as verily as the service 
on the great day of atonement, represented a 
portion of the plan of salvation — God’s 
method of separating man from sin and dis¬ 
posing of it finally. Each particular part of 
the whole service, whether the daily or the 
yearly, represented some special phase of that 
great work upon which Christ as our High 
Priest entered at His ascension. “Let no man 
therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or 
in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, 
or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of 
things to come; but the body is of Christ” 
Col. 2:16, 17. No single offering or special 
service performed on any day of the year, how¬ 
ever important that service might be, repre¬ 
sented the whole of Christ’s work; it required 
all the gifts and sacrifices, with all the serv¬ 
ices for the entire year, to represent fitly the 


Christ Prefigured in Daily Sacrifices 85 

perfect and glorious work of redemption. 
Even then we have but a shadow, a dim out¬ 
line, of the work, that since the ascension of 
the Saviour has been in progress in the heaven 
of heavens, and which is soon to terminate, 
when our great High Priest will lay off His 
sacerdotal garments, and declare, “It is done.” 

Christ was the foundation and life of the 
temple. Its services were typical of His sac¬ 
rifice; the priesthood was established to repre¬ 
sent His mediatorial character and work. The 
entire plan of sacrificial worship was a fore¬ 
shadowing of His death to redeem the world. 

In illustration of this thought, let us con¬ 
sider the offering of the penitent transgressor 
as he presents it before the door of the tab¬ 
ernacle of the congregation. It must be'a kid 
of the goats or a lamb, if he be able to pro¬ 
vide such. It must be without blemish, other¬ 
wise it is rejected. The sinner must then lay 
his hands upon the head of the innocent vic¬ 
tim, and confess over it his sin. 

“By the ceremony of putting their hands 
upon the head of the victim was signified that 
the offerer had need of sacrifice to atone for 
his sins; that he symbolically transferred his 
sins to the victim.” “It is impossible to sepa¬ 
rate in any case the imposition of hands on 


86 A More Excellent Ministry 

the head of the victim from the expression and 
transference of guilt. ,, 44 In the only explana¬ 
tion which Moses himself has given of the 
meaning of the rite — as connected with the 
services on the day of atonement — it is rep¬ 
resented as being accompanied not only with 
confession of sin, hut also with the transfer¬ 
ence of its guilt to the body of the victim. 
‘Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head 
of the live goat, and confess over him all the 
iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their 
transgressions in all their sins, putting them 
upon the head of the goat/ ” Lev. 16: 21. 

Having transferred his sin to the victim, the 
sinner took its life, and the priest carried its 
blood into the holy place, where he sprinkled a 
portion of it before the veil. The rest of the 
blood he brought out and poured at the bottom 
of the altar. The fat was burned upon the 
brazen altar in the court, while the rest of the 
body was burned without the camp. 

How fittingly does this represent “the Lamb 
of God, which taketh away the sin of the 
world”! The precious blood of Christ by 
which we are redeemed is said to be “as of 
a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 
Christ the Sinless One died in the place of the 
sinner, “the just for the unjust, that He might 


Christ Prefigured in Daily Sacrifices 87 

bring ns to God.” Though He had “done 
nothing amiss,” though He “did no sin, neither 
was guile found in His mouth,” yet “He hath 
made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;” 
for “the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity 
of us all.” “He is brought as a lamb to the 
slaughter;” “who His own self bare our sins 
in His own body on the tree, that we, being 
dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: 
by whose stripes ye were healed.” John 1: 29; 
1 Peter 1:19; 3:18; Luke 23:41; 1 Peter 2: 
22; 2 Cor. 5:21; Isa. 53:6, 7; 1 Peter 2:24. 

That the sin-offerings prefigured Christ is 
plainly stated by the apostle: “For the bodies 
of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the 
sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are 
burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus 
also, that He might sanctify the people with 
His own blood, suffered without the gate.” 
Heb. 13:11, 12. 

Further, Jesus, engaged in His priestly 
work, after His ascension, is represented as “a 
Lamb as it had been slain.” He who is the 
“light of the world” was prefigured by the 
seven lamps of fire. Christ, “the bread of 
life,” that bread which was broken for us, 
was shadowed forth by the showbread — the 
“bread of the presence.” 


88 A More Excellent Ministry 

That the paschal lamb prefigured Christ, is 
expressly declared by Paul in his first letter to 
the Corinthian church: “For even Christ our 
Passover is sacrificed for us.” 

The unleavened bread used at the Passover 
feast represented “the unleavened bread of 
sincerity and truth,” while leaven symbolized 
“malice and wickedness.” 1 Cor. 5:7, 8. 

The incense, ascending with the prayers of Israel, 
represents the merits and intercession of Christ, His 
perfect righteousness, which through faith is imputed 
to His people, and which can alone make the worship 
of sinful beings acceptable to God. Before the veil 
of the most holy place, was an altar of perpetual in¬ 
tercession; before the holy, an altar of continual 
atonement. By blood and by incense, God was to be 
approached,— symbols pointing to the great Medi¬ 
ator, through whom sinners may approach Jehovah, 
and through whom alone mercy and salvation can be 
granted to the repentant, believing soul.— “Patri¬ 
archs and Prophets,” page 353. 

“And another angel came and stood at the 
altar, having a golden censer; and there was 
given unto him much incense, that he should 
offer it with the prayers of all saints upon 
the golden altar which was before the throne. 
And the smoke of the incense, which came 
with the prayers of the saints, ascended up 
before God out of the angePs hand.” Rev. 
8:3, 4. 

The offering of incense every morning and 


Christ Prefigured in Daily Sacrifices 89 

evening upon the golden altar within the holy 
place, represented the continual intercession 
of our great High Priest in the heavenly 
sanctuary. 

“This Man, because He continueth ever, 
hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore 
He is able also to save them to the uttermost 
that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever 
livetli to make intercession for them.” Heb. 
7:24, 25. 

Before the door of the tabernacle, in the 
court, stood an altar of continual atonement, 
where the animals were slain, upon which the 
blood was sprinkled, at the base of which it 
was poured out, and upon which portions or 
all of their bodies were burned. Here is pre¬ 
figured the expiatory work of Jesus on the 
cross as He dies under the weight of the 
world’s sin. This was represented each day 
throughout the year, and constituted the major 
part of the ministry connected with the holy 
place. Here was shed each day the blood with 
which the priest .was to begin the work of 
expiation which was completed on the great 
day of atonement. See Leviticus, chapters 1, 
4, 5, 6, 7. 

How different the plan presented by the ad- 


90 A More Excellent Ministry 

vocates of this revised theology! The author 
of “Cast Out” says: 

The blood sprinkled before the veil, inasmuch as it 
was brought by the sinner, was nothing more than 
the sinner’s confession of sin, and prayer for pardon 
through faith in the blood of Christ. . . . 

It was but a prayer for pardon in the name of 
Christ, and not the Mood of the “sin-offering of the 
atonement .”—Pages 41, 42. (Italics ours.) 

For the expression “sin-offering of atone¬ 
ment” (not “the atonement,” as rendered in 
that pamphlet) the reader is referred to Num. 
29:11. In this instance the offering referred 
to the Lord’s goat slain on the day of atone¬ 
ment. But a similar expression is used in the 
Bible in alluding to sin-offerings that were 
made on other occasions. Thus in Num. 28: 22, 
on the first day of the Passover feast the 
priests were directed to offer “one goat for 
a sin-offering, to make an atonement.” The 
priests were also bidden to “offer every day 
a bullock for a sin-offering for atonement.” 
Ex. 29:36. 

In the same connection as the above quota¬ 
tion from “Cast Out,” we find the following 
assertions: 

After the priest had sprinkled the blood of the sin- 
offering, which was merely the sinner’s prayer for 
pardon, he changed his garments. . . . 


Christ Prefigured in Daily Sacrifices 91 

Let us then no longer confound the offerings which 
the priest received at the hand of the sinner and 
offered on behalf of the sinner “before the veil,” 
which offerings were but a confession of sin, and a 
prayer for pardon — let us not confound this offering 
with that offering which was received at the hand of 
God, and which was a substitute for the priest’s own 
olood, which alone could meet, in type, the penalty 
of a broken law. Remember that the first offering 
was but a prayer for pardon, while the second was 
the payment of the penalty of sin.— Pages 42, 44. 

Surely these quotations are sufficient to 
make plain the view of their author as to the 
meaning of the daily offerings in the sanctuary 
service. And yet, strange as it may seem, 
after repeating over and over the thought 
that the daily offerings represented only the 
sinner’s confession of sin and prayer for 
pardon, he states on page 51: 

The sacrificial lamb pointed forward to the death 
of Christ on the cross. (Italics his.) 

These statements are contradictory and un- 
reconcilable. 

The blood sprinkled “before the veil” was 
the blood of the daily offerings, while that 
sprinkled “within the veil” was the blood of 
the Lord’s goat shed on the great day of 
atonement. In the above statement we are 
told that the first was “merely” the sinner’s 
“confession of sin” and “prayer for par- 


92 A More Excellent Ministry 

don,” while the second “was the payment of 
the penalty of sin.” A very earnest effort is 
made to show that the daily service repre¬ 
sented the work carried forward in the heav¬ 
enly sanctuary from the fall of man to the 
cross, while the service of the great day of 
atonement was a type of the offering pre¬ 
sented on Calvary and of the work of Christ 
in the heavenly sanctuary from His ascension 
to the close of probation. But we have al¬ 
ready proved conclusively, from clear Scrip¬ 
tural statements, that the daily offerings whose 
blood was sprinkled within the first apartment 
of the earthly sanctuary typified the offering 
of Christ on Calvary, and His mediatorial work 
in the heavenly temple after His ascension. 

Unshaken as the sacred hills, 

And fixed as mountains stand, 

Firm as a rock the soul shall rest 
That trusts the Almighty hand. 

Not walls nor hills could guard so well 
Fair Salem’s happy ground, 

As those eternal arms of love 
That every saint surround. 

: ZZZZ'HM 

Do good, 0 Lord, do good to those 
Who cleave to Thee in heart, 

Who on Thy truth alone repose, 

Nor from Thy law depart. 


CHAPTER IX 

THE DAILY SIN-OFFERING AND THE LORD’S GOAT 

There is a significant difference between 
the daily sin-offering and the Lord’s goat, 
slain on the day of atonement. 

Upon the head of all the sin-offerings 
brought throughout the year, hands were laid 
and sins confessed, thus in type transferring 
the sins to these animals, and, by means of the 
blood, to the sanctuary. 

On the day of atonement, an offering must 
be presented whose blood could cleanse the 
sanctuary from the sins that had been brought 
in by the blood of the daily sin-offerings, in 
order to make a final disposition of sin. For 
this purpose, two goats are brought, upon 
which lots are cast, “one lot for the Lord, and 
the other for the scapegoat.” The goat upon 
which the Lord’s lot falls is slain, and its 
blood taken by the high priest into the most 
holy place and sprinkled upon and before the 
mercy-seat. It is then sprinkled in the first 
apartment, and finally upon the altar in the 
court. This is to “cleanse it, and to hallow it 
from the uncleanness of the children of Is¬ 
rael.” When he has “made an end of recon¬ 
ciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of 


93 


94 A More Excellent Ministry 

the congregation,” the high priest, having 
borne the sins of Israel from the sanctuary, 
lays “both his hands upon the head of the 
live goat,” confessing over him “all the in¬ 
iquities of the children of Israel, and all their 
transgressions in all their sins, putting them 
upon the head of the goat.” Then the goat, 
bearing all the iniquities of Israel, is led away 
by the hands of a tit man into the wilderness, 
into a land not inhabited, to perish with 
Israel's sin. Leviticus 16. 

Note carefully the significant fact that no 
hands were laid upon the head of the Lord’s 
goat, and no sins were confessed over it. 
When this goat was offered, there were no 
sins to be transferred to the sanctuary; all 
for which atonement was to be made were 
already resting there. Day by day throughout 
the year, by means of the daily offerings, re¬ 
membrance had been made of the sins of 
Israel. The last offering for the cleansing of 
the sinner and the transference of his sin to 
the sanctuary has now been made. The time 
has come for the sins of Israel for the en¬ 
tire year to be brought out of that sacred 
place; it is to be cleansed from its iniquity. 
And this can only be accomplished by the 


Sin-Offering and the Lord's Goat 95 

blood of a victim that is sinless, upon which no 
sin has been confessed. 

When we remember that no one feature of 
the service is of itself a complete type of 
Christ, but that it takes them all to make the 
shadow, whose body is Christ, there will be no 
difficulty in seeing that both the sin-offering, 
which died by the hand of the sinner with 
guilt imputed to it, and also the goat oyer 
which no sins were confessed, and whose life 
was taken by the high priest, prefigured the 
death of the Saviour. Jesus died on Calvary 
by the hand of the sinner (Acts 2:23), as the 
great sin-bearer. Upon Him was laid “the 
iniquity of us all. ,, Isa. 53: 6. He “bare our 
sins in His own body on the tree.” Yet in 
His sacrifice we may also see Him as the 
Sinless One voluntarily laying down His life. 
Of Him it is said that He “did no sin, neither 
was guile found in His mouth.” 1 Peter 
2:24; John 10:17, 18; 1 Peter 2:22. 

The daily offerings typified Christ as the 
sin-hearer; the Lord’s goat, slain on the 
great day of atonement, prefigured Christ as 
the Sinless One. As such His blood can cleanse 
the sanctuary from the sins of His people. It 
requires the blood of the spotless Lamb of 
God to blot sins from the Judgment boohs. 




96 A More Excellent Ministry 

A recognition of this distinction between the 
significance of the daily sin-offerings, and of 
the goat slain on the day of atonement, will 
enable the reader to understand the fallacy of 
the theory under consideration; for to sustain 
this theory, it must be maintained, as is re¬ 
peatedly asserted in the book “Cast Out,” 
that these daily sin-offerings represented only 
the sinner’s prayer and confession, and that 
the death of Christ to pay the penalty for sin 
was represented by the death of the Lord’s 
goat on the day of atonement, and by that 
alone. The author says: 

This goat was the one victim of the year which 
symbolized, from God’s standpoint, His giving His 
only Son to die to atone for the sins of the world. 
The offerings during the year symbolized man’s ac¬ 
cepting, by faith, God’s offering for sin; but this one 
offering on the day of atonement symbolized God’s 
giving His Son to be the sin-offering for the world .— 
Page 49. 

Instead of this being the only offering of 
the year that prefigured the death of Christ 
as the sin-bearer, it was the only sin-offering 
that did not bear sin; for upon its head no 
hands were laid, no sins confessed. 

When the penitent brought his offering, and, 
placing his hands upon its head, confessed over 
it his sin, there was in figure a transference 


Sin-Offering and the Lord’s Goat 97 

of his sin to the innocent victim. Then, as 
the sinner with his own hand took the life of 
his substitute, the blood that flowed forth, in 
figure cleansed the sinner from his sin. In 
figure his sin was borne into the sanctuary in 
the blood of his offering, and by the sprinkling 
of that sin-laden blood before the veil, was 
deposited in the sanctuary. The time for the 
cleansing of the sanctuary — the great day of 
atonement — eventually arrives, when the sins 
that have been brought into that sacred place 
by means of the sin-laden blood of the daily 
offerings must be removed. This can be ac¬ 
complished only by the sprinkling of the blood 
of the Lord’s goat (over which no sin had 
been confessed, hence sinless blood) on the 
mercy-seat over the broken law. Thus is 
clearly established the truth that the blood of 
the daily sin-offering represented the power 
of the blood of Christ as the sin-bearer, to 
free the sinner from his transgression; and 
the blood of the Lord’s goat represented His 
power as the Sinless One to make a final dis¬ 
position of sin, thus making atonement for 
the sanctuary, and for all the people. . See 
Lev. 16: 33. 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and 
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us 


7 


98. A More Excellent Ministry 

from all unrighteousness.” “The blood of 
Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all 
sin.” “In whom we have redemption through 
His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” 1 John 
1:9, 7; Eph. 1:7. By confession, we place 
our sins with those for which Christ has made 
atonement. Over against the record of sin 
in the books of heaven is placed our con¬ 
fession of that sin, and our repentance. These 
records stand thus till the day of final judg¬ 
ment, when, by virtue of the blood of Christ 
as the Sinless One, there is a blotting out 
from those books of all sin. 

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted,” 
the apostle Peter said, “that your sins may be 
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall 
come from the presence of the Lord; and He 
shall send Jesus Christ, which before was 
preached unto you: whom the heaven must re¬ 
ceive until the times of restitution of all 
things.” Acts 3:19-21. 

Thus is the heavenly sanctuary to be 
cleansed. “Almost all things are by the law 
purged with blood; and without shedding of 
blood is no remission. It was therefore 
necessary that the patterns of things in the 
heavens should be purified with these; but 


Sin-Offering and the Lord's Goat 99 

the heavenly things themselves with better sac¬ 
rifices than these/ ’ Heb. 9:22, 23. 

We do not teach, as is represented by the 
author of-“Cast Out,” that — 

The sanctuary was defiled by sin-polluted blood and 
then cleansed from that defilement by the sprinkling 
upon it of more sin-polluted blood.— Page 66. 

Such a statement of our position is based 
on a serious misunderstanding of the difference 
in the significance of the blood of the daily 
sin-offering, by means of which sins were 
transferred to the sanctuary, and that of the 
blood of the goat, which, being free from sin, 
cleansed the sanctuary. 

Regarding the assertion that the daily 
sin-offerings symbolized only the penitent’s 
prayer for pardon, while the price of par¬ 
don was met only in the death of the Lord’s 
goat, we would say that the confession of 
sin over the head of the innocent victim did 
carry with it a prayer for pardon. A portion 
of the blood was sprinkled on the golden al¬ 
tar, and with it was offered that incense which 
represents the righteousness of Christ, which 
makes the prayers of the suppliant acceptable 
to God. But the sin-offering itself prefigured 
far more than this,— even the death of the 
spotless Lamb of God, and His acceptance as 


100 A More Excellent Ministry 

man’s substitute. By this ceremony, the sin¬ 
ner who availed himself of the substitute was 
able to go free. Thus Jesus, “Himself the 
priest, Himself the victim,” ministers in the 
heavenly sanctuary, pleading, in our behalf, 
the merits of His blood. 

“In every sacrifice, Christ’s death was 
shown. In every cloud of incense, His right¬ 
eousness ascended. By every jubilee trumpet, 
His name was sounded. In the awful mystery 
of the holy of holies, His glory dwelt.”—“ De¬ 
sire of Ages,” page 212. 


CHAPTER X 

A MORE EXCELLENT MINISTRY 

“If therefore perfection were by the Levit- 
ical priesthood, (for under it the people re¬ 
ceived the law,) what further need was there 
that another priest should rise after the order 
of Melchisedec, and not be called after the 
order of Aaron ?” 

“For the law having a shadow of good 
things to come, and not the very image of 
the things, can never with those sacrifices 
which they offered year by year continually 
make the comers thereunto perfect. For then 
would they not have ceased to be offered? be¬ 
cause that the worshipers once purged should 
have had no more conscience of sins. But in 
those sacrifices there is a remembrance again 
made of sins every year. For it is not possible 
that the blood of bulls and of goats should 
take away sins.” Heb. 7:11; 10:1-4. 

In the above scriptures the fact is clearly 
stated that perfection did not come from the 
ministration in the earthly sanctuary. It was 
not possible that the blood there offered could 
take away sin. The entire sacrificial system, 
with its blood of animals, and its infirm, dying 
priests, was designed of God only as a means 


101 


102 A More Excellent Ministry 

of expressing faith in the meritorious blood 
of the Lamb of Calvary, and in a more excel¬ 
lent ministry, to be carried forward in the 
great and perfect tabernacle. As the believer 
laid hold, by faith, of this wonderful salvation, 
lie was brought into living touch with the 
world’s Redeemer. And although the blood 
by which the covenant was sealed had not yet 
been shed, although the ministry of Christ in 
the heavenly sanctuary had not yet begun, 
God, who “calleth those things which be not 
as though they were” (Rom. 4:17), rewarded 
the faith of the believer by bestowing upon 
him the new covenant blessings. This, how¬ 
ever, was made possible only by reason of the 
fact that in the fulness of time God would 
send His Son into the world to suffer and 
die, and later would receive Him into the 
heavens to minister in man’s behalf. From 
this time, all that was prefigured in the Jew¬ 
ish ritual would be actually accomplished. 

Since perfection could not come by the 
Levitical priesthood, it was necessary that 
another priest should arise after the order 
of Melchisedec. “For the priesthood being 
changed, there is made of necessity a change 
also of the law. For He of whom these things 
are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of 


103 


A More Excellent Ministry 

which no man gave attendance at the altar. 
For it is evident that onr Lord sprang out 
of Judah; of which tribe Moses spake noth¬ 
ing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far 
more evident: for that after the similitude of 
Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, who 
is made, not after the law of a carnal com¬ 
mandment, but after the power of an endless 
life. For He testilieth, Thou art a priest for¬ 
ever after the order of Melchisedec. ” Heb. 
7:12-17. 

Nothing could be clearer than the fact, as 
stated in these scriptures, that there is a 
change in the priesthood. This change was 
from the Aaronic priesthood to the Melchise¬ 
dec priesthood; from the tribe of Levi to the 
tribe of Judah; from a priest made “after 
the law of a carnal commandment,’ ’ to one 
made by “the word of the oath, ,, and “after 
the power of an endless life.” 

This change in the priesthood made of 
necessity a change in the law regulating the 
priesthood. “For there is a disannulling of 
a foregoing commandment because of its weak¬ 
ness and unprofitableness (for the law made 
nothing perfect), and the bringing in thereupon 
of a better hope, through which we draw nigh 
unto God.” Verses 18, 19, A.R.V. 


104 A More Excellent Ministry 

We are told by the author of “Cast Out,” 
that Melchisedec ministered in the first apart¬ 
ment of the heavenly sanctuary for four thou¬ 
sand years, from the fall to the cross, and 
that then Christ, after His resurrection, began 
His ministry, having been made a priest after 
the order of Melchisedec. If this were true, 
instead of there being a change in the priest¬ 
hood, as plainly stated in the scripture, it 
would be simply a perpetuation of the same 
priesthood; for all grant that Christ is a 
priest after the order of Melchisedec. It could 
not be said that there was a change from the 
earthly to the heavenly, if the heavenly min¬ 
istration had already been in progress for 
four thousand years. In that case, the earthly 
service simply ended, and the heavenly con¬ 
tinued as heretofore; now, however, in the 
second apartment, instead of in the first. 

Further, if the same priesthood were con¬ 
tinued, there would certainly be no necessity 
for any change in the law. Such a view is 
altogether out of harmony with the scripture, 
which positively declares that there was a 
change both in the priesthood and in the 
law. It is evident, therefore, that there was 
no priestly ministration in the heavenly sanc¬ 
tuary till after the cross, when the new order 


105 


A More Excellent Ministry 

was begun which necessitated a new law. This 
new order of the priesthood was after the 
order of Melchisedec; and the new priest was 
Christ, who sprang out of Judah; the new 
ministry was the ‘‘more excellent’’ one begun 
after the new covenant was sealed, and in the 
new-covenant sanctuary. 

After describing the earthly sanctuary, with 
its holy and most holy places, and the service 
in each apartment, the apostle Paul says: 
“The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the 
way into the holiest of all was not yet made 
manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet 
standing: which was a figure for the time 
then present, in which were offered both gifts 
and sacrifices, that could not make him that 
did the service perfect, as pertaining to the 
conscience; which stood only in meats and 
drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordi¬ 
nances, imposed on them until the time of 
reformation. But Christ being come an high 
priest of good things to come, by a greater 
and more perfect tabernacle, not made with 
hands, that is to say, not of this building; 
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but 
by His own blood He entered in once into the 
holy place, having obtained eternal redemp¬ 
tion for us.” Heb. 9:8-12. 


106 A More Excellent Ministry 

It should be stated in this connection that 
the Greek word rendered “the sanctuary’’ in 
chapter 8:2, is the same word that in chapter 
9:8 of the Authorized Version is rendered 
“the holiest of all.” In the Revised Version 
the word is properly rendered “the holy 
place. ’ ’ The same original word occurs in 
chapters 8:2; 9:2, 8, 12, 24; 10:19, in the 
Revised Version rendered “sanctuary” in 
the first, “holy place” in the others. But 
in the third verse of chapter nine, where we 
find the expression “holy of holies,” from the 
context there can be no question but that the 
second apartment of the sanctuary is spoken 
of. In Rotherham’s translation, it is ren¬ 
dered “holies” in all the above verses, save 
in 9: 3, where it is rendered “holies of holies,” 
to distinguish the second apartment from the 
first. 

The simple statement of the above facts 
utterly overthrows any argument, however ex¬ 
tended and elaborate, that is based upon the 
rendering “the holiest of all.” Heb. 9:8. 

The Holy Spirit has borne witness to the 
fact that the service in the heavenly sanctu¬ 
ary did not begin while the first tabernacle 
remained standing; or, as rendered by Rother¬ 
ham, “has a standing.” Till the veil of the^ 


107 


A More Excellent Ministry 

temple was rent at the crucifixion of Christ, 
the way of approach to the true sanctuary 
could not be disclosed. Shortly after the 
crucifixion, the earthly temple was utterly 
destroyed at the overthrow of Jerusalem, 
nevermore to he rebuilt. From the time of 
the dedication of the earthly sanctuary at 
Mount Sinai, till Jesus died on Calvary, the 
eyes of God’s faithful people were turned 
toward His habitation (1 Kings 8:29, 30, 35, 
38, 42, 44, 48); and as their hearts were lifted 
to Him in earnest supplication, the Lord 
heard in heaven His dwelling-place, and for¬ 
gave the sin of His people. They recognized 
the sanctuary as God’s dwelling-place with 
men. That was the place where His name 
dwelt. Within the holy of holies was the 
sacred ark in which God’s holy law was en¬ 
shrined, and above the mercy-seat the sheki- 
nah was manifested. Ex. 25:8; Deut. 12:11; 
10:1-5; Ex. 25: 21, 22. Though forbidden on 
pain of death, Daniel 1 ‘went into his house; 
and his windows being open in his chamber 
toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees 
three times a day, and prayed, and gave 
thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” 
Dan. 6:10. 

No longer are the eyes of God’s people 


108 A More Excellent Ministry 

turned toward old Jerusalem with its mag¬ 
nificent temple and gorgeously robed priests. 
Through the suffering and death of the Son 
of God, a new and living way into the celes¬ 
tial sanctuary is consecrated for us. “Ye 
are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city 
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, 
and to an innumerable company of angels, to 
the general assembly and church of the First¬ 
born, which are written in heaven, and to God 
the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just 
men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator 
of the new covenant, and to the blood of 
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than 
that of Abel.” Heb. 12:22-24. 

“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to 
enter into the holiest [sanctuary] by the blood 
of Jesus, . . . and having an High Priest 
over the house of God; let us draw near with 
a true heart in full assurance of faith, having 
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, 
and our bodies washed with pure water. Let 
us hold fast the profession of our faith with¬ 
out wavering; (for He is faithful that prom¬ 
ised).” Heb. 10:19, 21-23. 


CHAPTER XI 


AN ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE 

Before the ministry of Christ in the great 
and perfect tabernacle could begin, it was 
necessary not only that He should be made 
a priest by “the word of the oath” and “by 
the power of an endless life,” but that He 
should be able to present an acceptable offer¬ 
ing. “Every high priest is ordained to offer 
gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity 
that this Man have somewhat also to offer.” 
Heb. 8:3. This offering must have, as a con¬ 
stituent element, blood; for “without shed¬ 
ding of blood is no remission.” Heb. 9:22. 
We can not conceive of Christ as offering the 
blood of animals, “which can never take away 
sins.” “By His own blood He entered in 
once into the holy place, having obtained 
eternal redemption for ns.” Heb. 10:11; 
9:12. 

But, it may be asked, since Christ is “the 
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” 
(Rev. 13:8), could not His blood have been 
offered by Himself or by Melchisedec from 
the time sin entered the world? Christ was 
indeed the Lamb slain from the foundation of 
the world, in the promise and in the purpose 

109 


110 A More Excellent Ministry 

of God, but not in actual fact till we reach 
Calvary. Peter speaks of Him as “a Lamb 
unblemished and unspotted, of One Anointed; 
foreknown, indeed, before a founding of a 
world, but made manifest, at a last stage of 
the times.’’ 1 Peter 1:19, 20, Rotherham’s 

translation. 

“For Christ is not entered into the holy 
places made with hands, which are the figures 
of the true; but into heaven itself, now to 
appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet 
that He should offer Himself often, as the 
high priest entereth into the holy place every 
year with blood of others; for then must He 
often have suffered since the foundation of 
the world: but now once in the end of the 
world hath He appeared to put away sin by 
the sacrifice of Himself.” Heb. 9:24-26. 

The sacrifice which alone could be pre¬ 
sented in the heavenly sanctuary, and which 
alone could take away sin, existed in the 
promise and by the oath of God, each of 
which was immutable; yet the blood was not 
shed in actual fact at the beginning of the 
world. Hence the ministry of that blood, 
which must be presented in the first apartment 
as well as in the second, could not have begun 
in reality at the time of man’s fall. 


An Acceptable Sacrifice 111 

In the same way, the service in the heav¬ 
enly sanctuary might be said to have existed 
in the promise and purpose of God ‘ 1 from the 
foundation of the world.” But not until the 
new-covenant offering was presented, could the 
new-covenant ministry actually begin. It is 
just as unscriptural to say, without qualifi¬ 
cation, that the priestly ministration in the 
heavenly sanctuary began at the time of the 
fall of man, and continued through the cen¬ 
turies to the cross, as to say that the cross 
of Calvary was actually uplifted in Eden, and 
that the physical agonies of Calvary were en¬ 
dured all through those intervening years. 

Paul was sent to “preach among the Gen¬ 
tiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to 
make all men see what is the fellowship of the 
mystery, which from the beginning of the 
world hath been hid in God, who created all 
things by Jesus Christ.” Eph. 3:8, 9. 

“Who hath saved us, and called us with 
an holy calling,” he declared, “not according 
to our works, but according to His own pur¬ 
pose and grace, which was given us in Christ 
Jesus before the world began, but is now made 
manifest by the appearing of our Saviour 
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and 


112 A More Excellent Ministry 

hath brought life and immortality to light 
through the gospel.’ ’ 2 Tim. 1:9, 10. 

The grace of God was given us in Jesus 
before the world began, but was not revealed 
in its fulness till it was made manifest by 
the appearing of our Saviour. All through 
the ages it was a mystery, except as it was 
dimly revealed through the types and shadows 
of the earthly sanctuary. “But when the 
fulness of the time was come, God sent forth 
His Son, made of a woman, made under the 
law, to redeem them that were under the law, 
that we might receive the adoption of sons.” 
Gal. 4:4, 5. “Whom God hath foreordained 
to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, 
to declare His righteousness for the remission 
of sins that are past, through the forbearance 
of God. ’ ’ Rom. 3: 25, margin. 

The Saviour typified in the rites and ceremonies of 
the Jewish law is the very same that is revealed in 
the gospel. The clouds that enveloped His divine 
form have rolled back; the mists and shades have 
disappeared; and Jesus, the world’s Redeemer, stands 
revealed .—“Patriarchs and Prophets,” page 373. 

The Saviour of men hung upon Calvary’s 
cross, laden with the sins of a lost world. The 
Father hid His face from His Son, and from 


An Acceptable Sacrifice 113 

amid the darkness that enshrouded Him, Jesus 
cried out in agony, “My God, My God, why 
hast Thou forsaken Me?” But as His head 
fell lifeless upon His breast, all heaven re¬ 
sounded with the shout of triumph, “Now is 
come salvation, and strength, and the king¬ 
dom of our God, and the power of His Christ: 
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, 
which accused them before our God day and 
night. ’’ Rev. 12:10. 

A crisis of the lost world was reached; the 
great sacrifice of the ages was made, the blood 
of the covenant shed; and in the mighty con¬ 
flict with sin, the Son of God had triumphed. 

The grave could not hold the Saviour of 
the world, “because it was not possible that 
He should be holden of it.” He came forth 
a mighty conqueror, bearing the keys of the 
grave and of death. 

He ascended to the heavenly courts, and from God 
Himself heard the assurance that His atonement for 
the sins of men had been ample, that through His 
blood all might gain eternal life. The Father ratified 
the covenant made with Christ, that He would receive 
repentant and obedient men, and would love them 
even as He loves His Son. Christ was to complete 
His work, and fulfil His pledge to ‘ ‘ make a man more 
precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden 
wedge of Ophir,” All power in heaven and on earth 
was given to the Prince of Life, and He returned to 
8 


114 A More Excellent Ministry 

His followers in a world of sin, that He might impart 
to them of His power and glory .—“Desire of Ages,” 
page 790. 

After spending forty days with His disci¬ 
ples, ‘ 1 speaking of the things pertaining to the 
kingdom of God,” Christ returned to His 
Father, to begin His intercessory work in the 
heavenly sanctuary. 

All heaven was waiting to welcome the Saviour to 
the celestial courts. As He ascended, He led the way, 
and a multitude of captives set free at His resurrec¬ 
tion followed. The heavenly host, with shouts and 
acclamations of praise and celestial song, attended the 
joyous train. 

As they draw near to the city of God, the challenge 
is given by the escorting angels,— 

“Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates: 

And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; 

And the King of Glory shall come in! ’’ 

Joyfully the waiting sentinels respond,— 

“Who is this King of Glory?” 

This they say, not because they know not who He 
is, but because they would hear the answer of exalted 
praise,— 

“The Lord strong and mighty, 

The Lord mighty in battle! 

Lift up your heads, 0 ye gates ; 

Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; 

And the King of Glory shall come in!” 

Again is heard the challenge, ‘ ‘ Who is this King of 


An Acceptable Sacrifice 115 

Glory V’ for the angels never weary of hearing His 
name exalted. The escorting angels make reply,— 

4 4 The Lord of hosts; 

He is the King of Glory!” 

Then the portals of the city of God are opened wide, 
and the angelic throng sweep through the gates amid 
a burst of rapturous music. 

There is the throne, and around it the rainbow of 
promise. There are cherubim and seraphim. The 
commanders of the angel hosts, the sons of God, the 
representatives of the unfallen worlds, are assembled. 
The heavenly council before which Lucifer had ac¬ 
cused God and His Son, the representatives of those 
sinless realms over which Satan had thought to es¬ 
tablish his dominion,— all are there to welcome the 
Redeemer. They are eager to celebrate His triumph 
and to glorify their King. 

But He waves them back. Not yet; He can not 
now receive the coronet of glory and the royal robe. 
He enters into the presence of His Father. He 
points to His wounded head, the pierced side, the 
marred feet; He lifts His hands, bearing the print 
of nails. He points to the tokens of His triumph; 
He presents to God the wave-sheaf, those raised with 
Him as representatives of that great multitude who 
shall come forth from the grave at His second coming. 
He approaches the Father, with whom there is joy 
over one sinner that repents; who rejoices over one 
w T ith singing. Before the foundations of the earth 
were laid, the Father and the Son had united in a 
covenant to redeem man if he should be overcome by 
Satan. They had clasped Their hands in a solemn 
pledge that Christ should become the surety for the 
human race. This pledge Christ has fulfilled. When 
upon the cross He cried out, 44 It is finished,” He ad¬ 
dressed the Father. The compact had been fully car- 


116 A More Excellent Ministry 

ried out. Now He declares, “Father, it is finished. 
I have done Thy will, 0 My God. I have completed 
the work of redemption. If Thy justice is satisfied, 
‘I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, 
he with Me where I am.’ ” 

The voice of God is heard proclaiming that justice 
is satisfied. Satan is vanquished. Christ’s toiling, 
struggling ones on earth are “accepted in the Be¬ 
loved.” Before the heavenly angels and the repre¬ 
sentatives of unfallen worlds, they are declared justi¬ 
fied. Where He is, there His church shall be. 
‘ ‘ Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and 
peace have kissed each other.” The Father’s arms 
encircle His Son, and the word is given, “Let all the 
angels of God worship Him.” 

With joy unutterable, rulers and principalities and 
powers acknowledge the supremacy of the Prince of 
Life. The angel host prostrate themselves before 
Him, while the glad shout fills all the courts of 
heaven, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to re¬ 
ceive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing!” 

Songs of triumph mingle with the music from angel 
harps, till heaven seems to overflow with joy and 
praise. Love has conquered. The lost is found. 
Heaven rings with voices in lofty strains proclaiming, 
“Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto 
Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb 
forever and ever.” 

From that scene of heavenly joy, there comes back 
to us on earth the echo of Christ’s own wonderful 
words, “I ascend to My Father, and your Father; 
and to My God, and your God.” The family of 
heaven and the family of earth are one. For us our 
Lord ascended, and for us He lives. “Wherefore He 
is able also to save them to the uttermost that come 
unto God by Him, seeing He ever livetli to make 


An Acceptable Sacrifice 117 

intercession for them .”—‘ 1 Desire of Ages,” pages 
833-835. 

Crown Him with many crowns, 

The Lamb upon His throne; 

Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns 
All music but its own! 

Awake, my soul, and sing 
Of Him who died for thee; 

And hail Him as thy matchless King 
Through all eternity. 

Crown Him the Lord of love! 

Behold His hands and side, 

Those wounds, yet visible above, 

In beauty glorified. 

No angel in the sky 

Can fully bear that sight, 

But downward bends his wondering eye 
At mysteries so great. 

Crown Him the Lord of peace, 

Whose hand a scepter sways 

From pole to pole, that wars may cease, 

And all be prayer and praise. 

His reign shall know no end, 

And round His pierced feet 

Fair flowers of Paradise extend, 

Their fragrance ever sweet. 

Crown Him the Lord of years, 

The Potentate of time, 

Creator of the rolling spheres, 

Ineffably sublime! 

All hail! Redeemer, hail! 

For Thou hast died for me; 

Thy praise shall never, never fail 
Throughout eternity. 

— Matthew Bridges. 


CHAPTER XII 


THE HEAVENS OPENED 

To the disciple John on the isle of Patmos 
there were presented scenes of the work going 
on in heaven in behalf of fallen man. “I 
looked,’’ he says, “and, behold, a door was 
opened in heaven: and the first voice which I 
heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with 
me; which said, Come up hither, and I will 
show thee things which must be hereafter.” 
“Immediately,” he continues, “I was in the 
Spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, 
and One sat on the throne. And He that sat 
was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine 
stone: and there was a rainbow round about 
the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And 
round about the throne were four and twenty 
seats: and upon the seats I saw four and 
twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; 
and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings 
and thunderings and voices: and there were 
seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, 
which are the seven Spirits of God.” Rev 
4:1-5. 

The door that was opened to permit the 

prophet to behold this wonderful scene must 
118 


The Heavens Opened 119 

have opened into the first apartment of the 
heavenly sanctuary, for he saw the ‘‘ seven 
lamps of fire,” the antitype of the golden 
candlestick containing seven lamps, which con¬ 
stituted part of the furniture of the first apart¬ 
ment of the earthly sanctuary. Heb. 9:1, 2. 

Four and twenty elders are also seen, clothed 
in white raiment. In their hands they carry 
“ golden vials full of incense, which are the 
prayers of saints.” But who are these elders? 
It would seem from the description of their 
clothing and their work that they are assist¬ 
ant priests. We are not, however, left to in¬ 
ference, but may identify them by their own 
testimony. They sing a new song, saying to 
the Lamb, “Thou art worthy to take the book, 
and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast 
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy 
blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
people, and nation; and hast made us unto 
our God kings and priests: and we shall reign 
on the earth. ’ ’ Rev. 5:8, 9, 10, margin. 

These are the “priests” who minister in the 
heavenly sanctuary with Christ. They have 
been redeemed from this earth, and are look¬ 
ing forward to a time when they shall return 
to earth. In the days of King David the 
priests were divided into twenty-four courses, 


120 A More Excellent Ministry 

and a chief was appointed to preside over the 
work of each course. Here we see twenty- 
four elders, who have been made kings and 
priests, standing, possibly, at the head of so 
many courses in the heavenly priesthood. We 
may rejoice, and take courage in the thought 
that we have to represent us before the Father 
not only a great High Priest who was made 
like unto us, but also a company of assistant 
priests who have been redeemed from among 
men. These, too, because they themselves have 
been “ compassed with infirmity / 9 are fitted to 
“have compassion on the ignorant, and on 
them that are out of the way.” They have 
wrestled with temptation; and because of 
their faith in Him who was to come, they have 
been taken to the heavenly courts, as a token 
of the Saviour’s victory, and of the efficacy of 
His atoning sacrifice. The first-fruits of that 
great company who, shall be redeemed from 
death, they have been made kings and priests 
to minister in the heavenly sanctuary. 

In this scene, the prophet beheld, standing 
“in the midst of the throne and of the four 
living creatures, and in the midst of the 
elders,” “a Lamb as it had been slain.” Let 
us bear in mind that there is no mention of 
a lamb in connection with any ceremony per- 


The Heavens Opened 121 

taining to the second apartment. But Christ 
is here brought to view in the first apartment, 
as the victim slain for the sins of the world. 
In the first chapter of Revelation He was re¬ 
vealed to the prophet robed in priestly gar¬ 
ments. So Christ is not only the victim, but, 
as High Priest, He ministers His own atoning 
blood. 

The scene described in the fourth and fifth 
chapters of Revelation is introductory to the 
opening of the seven seals. Again at the 
sounding of the seven trumpets, another view 
of the heavenly sanctuary is given. An angel 
is represented as standing at the altar, to 
whom was given “much incense, that he should 
offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the 
golden altar which was before the throne. ” 
Rev. 8: 3. 

The opening of the seven seals and the 
sounding of the seven trumpets are contempo¬ 
raneous, and denote a series of events that 
were to take place from the beginning of the 
Christian era to the coming of Christ. The 
first seal contains emblems of the triumphs 
of the gospel during the first century, while 
the first trumpet meets its fulfilment about the 
close of the fourth century and onward. In 
the opening of each of these lines of prophecy 


122 A More Excellent Ministry 

we are taken by the visions of John into the 
heavenly sanctuary, and are permitted to be¬ 
hold there the mediatorial work of our great 
High Priest as He with His associates min¬ 
isters, not in the second apartment, but in the 
first . 

But in the conclusion of the prophecy of 
the seven trumpets, after the writer of the 
book of Revelation has beheld in prophetic 
vision the upheaval of nations, and the woes 
of the centuries down to the time when the 
seventh trumpet is sounded, and when the 
mystery of God, which is the gospel (Eph. 
3:1-9; Col. 1:25-27; 1 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 16: 
25, 26), is being finished in the earth (Rev. 
10:7), again the temple of God is ‘ 4 opened 
in heaven.” This time the prophet beholds, 
not a company of ministering priests, not the 
golden altar, or the seven lamps of fire, which 
were in the first apartment, but there is “seen 
in His temple the ark of His testament.” 
Chapter 11:19. 

This is the only view of the holy of holies 
and of the sacred ark presented to us in the 
book of Revelation; and it is given in connec¬ 
tion with the close of Christ’s ministry, “in 
the days of the voice of the seventh angel,” 
when the “mystery of God should be finished.” 


The Heavens Opened 123 

Rev. 11:14-19; 10:7. All other passages 

which describe scenes in the heavenly sanctu¬ 
ary speak of things pertaining to the first 
apartment, and occur in connection with the 
beginning of Christa ministry. 

It is worthy of note here that in the descrip¬ 
tions of the opening of Christ’s ministry in 
heaven the twenty-four elders were seen carry¬ 
ing forward a priestly ministration in the holy 
place; but in connection with His work in the 
most holy place, these priests are not men¬ 
tioned. The prophet Daniel, in describing the 
Judgment scene in the holy of holies, speaks 
of the Father, of the Son, and of “thousand 
thousands,” and “ten thousand times ten 
thousand” of angels who ministered before 
Him (Dan. 7:9, 10, 13; see also Rev. 5:11), 
but no mention is made of the elders. In the 
typical service no man was permitted on pain 
of death to enter the holy of holies, “save the 
high priest only.” “The priests went always 
into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the 
service of God. But into the second went the 
high priest alone once every year.” Heb. 
9:6, 7. We must conclude, therefore, that 
John’s first view of Christ in the sanctuary 
was in that apartment where He could be as¬ 
sisted directly by the twenty-four elders; and 


124 A More Excellent Ministry 

that this was in the first and not the second 
apartment. 

By the author of “Cast Out,” an attempt is 
made to harmonize the discrepancy between 
the theory that Christ was ministering in the 
second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, 
and the fact that the candlestick and the altar 
of incense were seen by John in his vision of 
the sanctuary, by saying that — 

When Christ died on Calvary as the antitype of 
the Lord’s goat, the veil of the temple was rent 
from the top to the bottom; symbolizing the rending 
of the heavenly veil that our great High Priest might 
enter within the veil and offer His blood at the 
mercy-seat. 

And again: 

How much more reasonable and Scriptural to be¬ 
lieve that the heavenly veil was rent at the death of 
Christ so that the mercy-seat, or throne of grace, 
could be seen at the same time with the altar and 
candlestick.— Pages 17, IS. 

This, of course, would make but one apart¬ 
ment instead of two. We are told further 
that — 

At the moment of His Son’s death, . . . the hand 
of God . . . tore the veil of the temple from top to 
bottom, not the first curtain, but the one which had 
separated the high priest, the type of God’s Son, 
from the throne of His Father’s glory; thereby saying 
in tragic tones to the angelic guard that barred the 
way of the sinner’s substitute, the Son of God, from 


The Heavens Opened 125 

the throne of His Father, “Stand aside! make way 
for the home-coming of My Son.” 

This having been done, when “Christ arose 
from the grave freed from sin . . . the way 
into the holiest was laid open.”-—Page 46. 

But if we are to accept the assertion that 
the heavenly veil was thus rent when Christ 
was crucified, making it possible for “the 
mercy-seat, or throne of God,” to be “seen 
at the same time with the altar and candle¬ 
stick,” what becomes of the argument based 
upon the expression “within the veil”! Heb. 
6:19. It is claimed that “this scripture says 
plainly that at the time the Hebrew letter was 
written, Christ had entered ‘within the veil/ ” 
— Page 19. 

If that veil was then rent asunder, practi¬ 
cally leaving but one apartment, why argue 
that Christ was then ministering “within the 
veil”? If there was no longer any veil, or 
only a rent veil, between the two apartments 
of the sanctuary, there is absolutely no mean¬ 
ing to the expression “within the veil,” unless 
it refers to the curtain at the entrance to the 
holy place. Christ could not have entered 
within a veil that ivas removed ivhen He died. 
If, on the other hand, there is any truth to the 
conclusions reached by the author of “Cast 
Out,” in his exposition of the expression 


126 A More Excellent Ministry 

“within the veil,” then there is certainly a 
separating veil between the two apartments > 
and the prophet could not have seen Christ 
in the second apartment, and at the same 
time have seen the golden altar and the can¬ 
dlesticks. 

In the type, it was not necessary that the 
veil should be rent when the time came for the 
high priest to pass through its folds. How 
can the rending of the veil at the close of the 
earthly ministry be a representation of a rend¬ 
ing of the veil in the heavenly sanctuary 
merely to allow the High Priest to enter at the 
beginning of His work in the second apart¬ 
ment? No scripture is brought to substantiate 
this position, and there is nothing in the type 
to indicate any removal of the veil before the 
entire ministry is finished. 

The redemption of a lost world was made 
possible through the gift of God’s dear Son. 
This plan of salvation was made known to man 
shortly after the fall, and before he was driven 
from the gates of Paradise. But to conclude 
that because Christ consented to bear man’s 
sin, “for four thousand years, He was barred 
from the Father’s face because He was the 
sinner’s substitute,” is to make a deduction 
wholly unwarranted. John declared of Jesus, 


The Heavens Opened 127 

“Behold the Lamb of God, which beareth the 
sin of the world.'' John 1:29, margin. And 
Isaiah says, “The Lord hath laid on Him the 
iniquity of us all.” Isa. 53:6. This chapter 
of Isaiah is a prophetic description of the 
sufferings, death, and final triumph of the 
Messiah, and it is written as if it were already 
in the past. 

Peter tells us when the sins of men were 
placed upon Jesus. He says, “Who His own 
self bare our sins in His own body on the 
tree.” 1 Peter 2:24. 

When Jesus had reached the shadow of the 
cross, a foreboding of His coming conflict 
with the powers of darkness, when He must 
bear the climax of the sin of the world, and 
endure the hiding of His Father's face, came 
over Him, and He cried: “Now is My soul 
troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save 
Me from this hour: but for this cause came I 
unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name.” 
John 12: 27, 28. When, in the garden of Geth- 
semane, He prayed three times, saying, “0 
My Father, if it be possible, let this cup 
pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but 
as Thou wilt,” it is manifest that He was 
conscious of the fact that He had at last 
reached the time when He must meet the aw- 


128 A More Excellent Ministry 

ful climax of sin, death; and the awful sense 
of sin separated from the Son the Father’s 
face. Jesus, the sin-bearer, endured judicial 
punishment for iniquity, and became sin for 
man. “For He hath made Him to be sin 
for us, who knew no sin; that we might be 
made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 
Cor. 5:21. When Jesus could no longer en¬ 
dure the separation from His Father, He 
“cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, 
lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, 
My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” And 
“Jesus, when He had cried again with a 
loud voice, yielded up the ghost.” Matt. 
27:46, 50. 

This is the time, and the only time, when the 
Father and the Son were even seemingly sepa¬ 
rated. When Jesus came into this world, He 
“came forth from the Father,” just as truly 
as when He left the world He went to the 
Father. John 16:28; 13:1, 3; 8:42. There¬ 
fore it is folly to say that — 

For four thousand years, the sins of a world sepa¬ 
rated God’s only-begotten Son from His place at the 
the side of His Father on the throne.— Page 45. 

Even after Jesus came to earth, the Father 
was with Him. He says, “The Father hath 
not left Me alone; for I do always those things 
that please Him.” John 8:29; 5:19. Yea; 


The Heavens Opened 129 

when all others had forsaken Him, His Father 
was with'Him still. John 16:32. Not until 
the time came for the Man of Sorrows to suf¬ 
fer the agonies of His passion was the Father 
separated from His Son, and then only for 
a brief period. 

True, Jesus prayed, “And now, 0 Father, 
glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the 
glory which I had with Thee before the world 
was” (John 17: 5); but that is not to say that 
Jesus, “because He was the sinner’s substi¬ 
tute,” had been separated from His Father 
since “before the world was.” 

When in heaven sin originated with Lucifer, 
a dark shadow was cast over all its inhabitants. 
Satan and his sympathizers, cast out from the 
realms of light, began their nefarious work in 
Eden, and when man fell under his dominion 
and was driven from Paradise, deep sorrow 
tilled all heaven. The dark pall of sin dimmed 
the glory even of the celestial world. Not 
until the covenant of salvation was ratified by 
the death of Christ, and the Saviour should 
return in triumph to the Father, having con¬ 
quered the enemy and broken the fetters of 
the tomb, could that shadow be lifted. Even 
then it was not entirely dispelled, nor will it 
be until sin is finally eradicated from the uni- 


9 


130 A More Excellent Ministry 

verse cf God, and “ every creature which is 
in heaven, and on the earth, and under the 
earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that 
are in them,” will be heard “saying, Blessing, 
and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him 
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
Lamb forever and ever.” Then will be com-, 
pletely fulfilled the prayer of the Saviour, 
“Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self 
with the glory which I had with Thee before 
the world was.” 

The figures of angels wrought in the veil 
between the two apartments of the earthly 
sanctuary are said in “Cast Out” to represent 
“the real angels which guarded the approach 
to the throne of God,”—a “cordon of living 
angels” by which “for four thousand years 
Christ was barred from His Father’s face.” 
— Page 45. But in the earthly sanctuary, not 
only were cherubim wrought on the separating 
veil, but also over all the inner covering. If 
we adopt a method of interpretation that ! 
makes a portion of these cherubim represent a 
fixed barrier separating the Father from the 
Son, we must, to be consistent, believe that the 
Father was shut into the most holy place, sur¬ 
rounded on all sides and overhead by an angel 
guard. The inference that the Father must 


The Heavens Opened 131 

employ angels to guard the way lest the Son — 
by whom these very angels had been created 
— should attempt to come into His presence, 
would seem to be too revolting to be considered 
seriously. This method of interpretation would 
be a shadowy materialism reduced to absurdity. 

Undoubtedly the forms of angels wrought in 
the curtains of the sanctuary represented the 
angels that surround the throne of God (Matt. 
18:10; Ps. 103: 20, 21; Rev. 5:11), not, how¬ 
ever, as a guard, but as ministers who wait 
to do His pleasure. The veil itself repre¬ 
sented that which separated the holy from 
the most holy in the heavenly sanctuary. Re¬ 
garding the material which composes this wall 
of separation, the Scriptures are silent. 

The aged apostle saw the sanctuary opened, 
and our great High Priest ministering in the 
first apartment, assisted by the twenty-four 
elders. Later, under the sounding of the sev¬ 
enth trumpet, when the hour of God’s Judg¬ 
ment — the antitypical day of atonement — 
had come, he saw the door into the holiest 
of all, containing the ark of His testament, 
opened. This view establishes, beyond all 
controversy, the position concerning the min¬ 
istry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary as 
set forth in the opening chapter of this book. 


CHAPTER XIII 


ON THE THRONE 

In the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh 
chapters of the prophecy of Ezekiel, is a won¬ 
derful description of the Lord’s glory. At 
the time when he beheld the vision, the prophet 
was “among the captives” in the land of 
exile. He declares: 

“The Spirit lifted me up between the earth 
and the heaven, and brought me in the visions 
of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner 
gate that looketh toward the north. . . . 

And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel 
was there, according to the vision that I saw 
in the plain.” (See the description of this 
vision in the first chapter of Ezekiel.) 

The prophet was then permitted to behold 
the wicked ceremonies of idolatry carried for¬ 
ward in the precincts of the house that had 
been dedicated to the worship of Jehovah. He 
continues: 

“And the glory of the God of Israel was 
gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, 
to the threshold of the house.” 

“I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that 
was above the head of the cherubim there 
appeared over them as it were a sapphire 


On the Throne 


133 


stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a 
throne. And he spake unto the man clothed 
with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, 
even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with 
coals of fire from between the cherubim, and 
scatter them over the city. And he went in 
in my sight. Now the cherubim stood on the 
right side of the house, when the man went 
in; and the cloud filled the inner court. Then 
the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, 
and stood over the threshold of the house; 
and the house was filled with the cloud, and 
the court was full of the brightness of the 
Lord’s glory.” 

“Then the glory of the Lord departed from 
off the threshold of the house, and stood over 
the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up 
their wings, and mounted up from the earth 
in my sight: when they went out, the wheels 
also were beside them, and every one stood at 
the door of the east gate of the Lbrd’s house; 
and the glory of the God of Israel was over 
them above.” 

“Then did the cherubim lift up their wings, 
and the wheels beside them; and the glory of 
the God of Israel was over them above. And 
the glory of the Lord went up from the midst 
of the city, and stood upon the mountain which 


134 A More Excellent Ministry 

is on the east side of the city . 9 ’ Eze. 8:3, 4; 
9:3; 10:1-4, 18, 19; 11:22, 23. 

From the foregoing it will be seen that the 
throne of God is movable. The glory that 
represented His presence is first seen by the 
door of the inner gate of Jerusalem, then at 
the threshold of the temple. It is seen at the 
right side of the house, again at the threshold, 
over the east gate of the house, and then, leav¬ 
ing the midst of the city, it is last seen by 
the prophet upon the mountain, on the east 
side of the city. 

That this was not a view of the throne of 
God in heaven is evident. The prophet is 
carried by the Spirit to Jerusalem, various 
gates of the city and parts of the temple are 
mentioned, and in the eleventh chapter “Ja- 
azaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son 
of Benaiah, princes of the people,” are seen 
in a company of twenty-five men, and are 
pointed out as 4 ‘ men that devise mischief, and 
give wicked counsel in this city.” Verses 1, 2. 
It can not be that these wicked men were in 
heaven. 

Isaiah, in the sixth chapter of his prophecy, 
describes a similar scene: 

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw 
also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and 


On the Throne 


135 


lifted up, and His train filled the temple. 
Above it stood the seraphim: each one had 
six wings. . . . And one cried unto another, 
and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of 
hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. 
And the posts of the door moved at the voice 
of him that cried, and the house was filled 
with smoke. 

“Then said I, Wo is me! for I am undone; 
because I am a man of unclean lips, and I 
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: 
for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord 
of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto 
me, having a live coal in his hand, which he 
had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 
and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, 
this hath touched thy lips; and thine in¬ 
iquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” 
Verses 1-7. 

Here an angel is represented as taking from 
off the altar a coal, with which the iniquity 
of Isaiah was purged. Likewise, in the vision 
recorded by Ezekiel, an angel takes coals of 
fire from between the cherubim, to scatter 
over the city, to purify it after the slaying 
of the wicked. We know that this latter scene 
is located in Jerusalem, and there is every 
reason to believe that the same is true of 


136 A More Excellent Ministry 

Isaiah’s vision. Both saw the Lord sitting 
on His throne, attended by a host of angels; 
both speak of the temple as “the house,” and 
both record the action of an angel who took 
burning coals from the sanctuary to purge 
iniquity, in one case for an individual, in the 
other for a city. There is no plain Scriptural 
statement to the effect that Isaiah was taken 
by the Spirit to heaven; and inasmuch as this 
parallel vision of Ezekiel is unmistakably lo¬ 
cated in Jerusalem, such an assertion as the 
following is clearly unwarranted: 

The scripture [Isa. 6:1-7] proves that the heavenly 
sanctuary was open in Isaiah’s time, and that the 
altar of incense was burning with live coals, not cold 
and dead, and that the ministering angels were pres¬ 
ent to minister pardon from the sanctuary to the 
sinner .—“Cast Out,” page 39. 

In the earthly sanctuary, God at times met 
with the high priest in the holy of holies, and 
sometimes in the first apartment. There were 
times when He appeared to all the people at 
the door of the tabernacle. 

“And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above 
upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put 
the testimony that I shall give thee. And 
there I will meet with thee, and I will com¬ 
mune with thee from above the mercy-seat, 
from between the two cherubim which are 


On the Throne 


137 


upon the ark of the testimony . 9 9 Ex. 25: 21, 22. 

“And thou shalt beat some of it [the in¬ 
cense] very small, and put of it before the 
testimony in the tabernacle of the congrega¬ 
tion, where I will meet with thee.” Ex. 30: 36. 

“And the Lord called unto Moses, and 
spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the 
congregation .” Lev. 1:1. 

“This shall be a continual burnt offering 
throughout your generations at the door of 
the tabernacle of the congregation before the 
Lord: where 1 will meet you, to speak there 
unto thee. And there I will meet with the 
children of Israel.” Ex. 29:42, 43. 

On one occasion, we are told, “as Moses 
entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar 
descended, and stood at the door of the tab¬ 
ernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. 
. . . And the Lord spake unto Moses face 
to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.” 
Ex. 33: 9-11. 

“And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle 
in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the 
cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle.” 
Deut. 31:15. 

Thus we see that, enshrouded in the cloudy 
pillar, the Lord of glory descended to earth, 
and, at the door of the tabernacle, in the tab- 


138 A More Excellent Ministry 

ernacle of the congregation, as well as in 
the holy of holies, He met with the anointed 
priest, through whom He made known His 
will to His people. 

Having seen that God’s throne is movable, 
and that in the type He did meet daily with 
the high priest in his ministration in the first 
apartment, it is a natural conclusion that the 
Father was closely associated with His Son 
during the period when Christ made inter¬ 
cession for man in the first apartment of the 
heavenly sanctuary, as well as during the 
period allotted to the cleansing of that sanc¬ 
tuary. But we are not left merely to a 
natural conclusion based upon analogy of 
the type. In his view of the open heavens, 
the writer of the book of Revelation declares: 

“I was in the Spirit: and, behold, a throne 
was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 
And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper 
and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow 
round about the throne, in sight like unto an 
emerald . 91 Rev. 4:2, 3. 

“A throne ivas set in heaven.” The Greek 
verb keimai? here rendered "was set,” is 

1 ‘ ‘ Keimai: Of things put or set in any place, in reference 
to which we often use to stand: thus of vessels, John 2-6- 
19:29; of a throne, Rev. 4:2 .’’—Thayer's Greelc-English Lexl 


On the Throne 


139 


found thus translated but six times in the 
New Testament, and invariably it means “to 
place,** in the sense of putting something 
where it had not been before. To make clear 
the use of this word, the other instances in 
which it is used are here given, as follows: 

1. “A city that is set on au hill can not be 
hid.” Matt. 5:14. 

2. “There were set there six water-pots.** 
John 2: 6. 

3. “This Child is set for the fall and rising 
again of many.** Luke 2:34. 

4. “There was set a vessel full of vinegar.** 
John 19: 29. 

5. “I am set for the defense of the gospel.** 

Phil. 1:17. 

In other instances this Greek word is trans¬ 
lated “lay** or “lie,** but always with this 
meaning. 

This expression in Rev. 4:2, “a throne was 
set,** is a parallel to that found in Dan. 
7:9, 10: “I beheld till the thrones were 
placed (R.V.), and the Ancient of Days did 
sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the 
hair of His head like the pure wool: His throne 
was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as 
burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came 
forth from before Him: thousand thousands 


140 A More Excellent Ministry 

ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times 
ten thousand stood before Him: the Judgment 
was set, and the books were opened/ ’ 

In both Daniel 7 and Revelation 4 there is 
brought to our notice the placing of a throne 
in heaven upon which sat the great Jehovah. 
As portrayed in the Revelation, this is in 
the beginning of the sanctuary service, after 
Christ’s ascension, prior to the opening of 
the seven seals; in Daniel it is at the time 
when the work of judgment is entered upon. 
In the first instance, when the throne is set, 
it is surrounded by the elders and the four 
living creatures, while in the midst of the 
throne stood “a Lamb, as it had been slain.” 
There are seven lamps of fire before the 
throne. In the second instance, the work of 
the Judgment has begun, corresponding to 
the time when, under the sounding of the sev¬ 
enth trumpet, the temple in heaven was 
opened, and there was seen therein the ark 
of the testament. At the beginning of the 
work of the sanctuary, the throne is seen in 
the first apartment: in the work of judgment, 
it is placed in the second apartment. 

As portrayed by Daniel, the sublime picture 
of the Judgment is described as occurring 
after the placing of the thrones and the sit- 


On the Throne 141 

ting of the Ancient of Days. Daniel con¬ 
tinues : 

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, 
one like the Son of man came with the clouds 
of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, 
and they brought Him near before Him. ,, 
Dan. 7:1& 

The throne which was seen by the revelator 
in the first apartment of the sanctuary is now 
moved to the place where the work of judg¬ 
ment is to be carried on. In this solemn work 
the character of every man is to be measured 
by the standard of the perfect law of God, 
and in each case infinite mercy is to be exer¬ 
cised in behalf of those who, while they have 
transgressed the divine requirements, have 
claimed by repentance and faith the merits 
of Christ's righteousness. How fitting that 
this work be carried forward in the place 
where God's throne can rest over the sacred 
ark and its glorious mercy-seat! 

To insist that because the second apartment 
of the sanctuary is recognized especially as 
the throne-room, therefore the Father is phys¬ 
ically and literally confined to that apartment, 
is to do violence to the common usage of 
language, and to contradict the plainest state¬ 
ments of Scripture. Yet this assumption is 


142 A More Excellent Ministry 

made the basis of the whole argument which 
maintains that Christ went immediately into 
the second apartment at His ascension. It 
is argued that inasmuch as the throne-room 
is the second apartment, the Father must he 
in the holy of holies, and as Christ is seated 
at the right hand of God, therefore Christ 
must also be seated with Him in that apart¬ 
ment, and that both must remain there lit¬ 
erally, till probation ceases. 

But this is too broad a conclusion to be 
based upon a literal interpretation of an ex¬ 
pression that is in nearly every case used 
in a figurative sense. We have already shown, 
by the evidence of Scripture, that in the type 
the glory that veiled the Father was fre¬ 
quently seen in the first apartment, or at the 
threshold of the door of the tabernacle. We 
have called attention to the accounts of Isaiah 
and Ezekiel, of their view of the throne of 
God, to whom it was represented as moving 
from place to place at His pleasure. 

To illustrate the limited and fatally lit¬ 
eral sense in which the author of “Cast Out” 
regards the throne of God, we note the fol¬ 
lowing inferences: “If God moved His throne 
into the first apartment at the ascension of 
Christ, and left the sacred ark enshrining His 


143 


On the throne 

law and covered by the mercy-seat , 9 9 He 
thereby moved “the center of salvation away 
from the law and mercy-seat into another 
apartment;’ ’ then He must have ministered 
“pardon for eighteen centuries from a throne 
which was not the mercy-seat/’ “whose foun¬ 
dation was not His eternal law,” but “which 
was divorced from that law by a veil of 
separation.” The question is asked, “If God 
could minister the gospel for eighteen cen¬ 
turies divorced from the law, why can He 
not continue to do it; as taught by the 
no-law advocates ?”—Page 11. 

If these objections have any weight at all, 
we must conclude that in order for God to be 
merciful, or for the law to be of perpetual 
force, the Father must, in the most literal 
sense of the language, constantly be seated 
on a material ark, containing His law and 
covered by the mercy-seat, and that if He 
should for any reason leave the ark, during 
His absence He must minister justice without 
mercy, and the law might be violated with 
impunity. 

In the Scriptures, as in the common usage 
of language to-day, to “sit on a throne” is 
a figurative rather than a literal expression. 
It signifies the office of a king; and though the 


144 A More Excellent Ministry 

monarch may have a royal throne, and though 
there may he a room that is recognized as his 
throne-room, yet the monarch is as truly “on 
the throne’’ when attending to the duties of 
state in any part of his kingdom as when 
literally seated in the regal chair. 

The throne, which is of immemorial antiquity, is the 
universal ancestor of all chairs, which were for long, 
symbols of authority and rule .—“ Encyclopedia Bri- 
tannica,” 11th ed., Art. “Throne.” 

To enthrone is to “put upon or as upon a 
throne; raise to the throne; invest with sov¬ 
ereign power; make preeminent; as to en¬ 
throne a king: to enthrone reason.”— Stand¬ 
ard Dictionary. 

On the death of Edward VII, king of Great 
Britain and Ireland, his eldest son, the Prince 
of Wales, was proclaimed king. He was thus 
“raised to the throne;” he was “invested with 
sovereign power,” inducted into the regal 
dignity. From that moment until his death, 
except for some extraordinary reason, he will 
exercise the kingly office. We say that he is 
on the throne of Britain. He never leaves the 
throne. Wherever he may be in his wide 
domain, or in a foreign land, he is still “on 
the throne.” Likewise, though the eternal 
Father be not always literally seated on His 


On the Throne 


145 


throne, He will always exercise His royal 
prerogatives; He will always be, in the tru¬ 
est sense, “on the throne.” 

The British sovereign has several thrones, 
in different parts of his realm, any one of 
which may be said to be the throne of, Brit¬ 
ain, for each represents sovereign authority. 
God’s throne, however, moves about under 
the Spirit’s guidance. When seen by the 
prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah, it was upon 
the earth. 

A monarch may associate with himself his 
son. History furnishes us with such ex¬ 
amples. Then there are two monarchs on the 
throne. The son may be said to be sitting 
with the father on his throne. And this is 
true, wherever at any time either of them 
may be. It is just as true when they are in 
different parts of the kingdom as when lit¬ 
erally seated side by side on royal thrones. 
It is in this sense that we understand the 
Scriptural statement that Christ is 4 4 set 
down” with His Father “in His throne.” 

The law of God is the foundation of His 
throne. “Righteousness and justice are the 
foundation of Thy throne.” “All Thy com¬ 
mandments are righteousness. ’ ’ Ps. 89:14, 
R.V.; 119:172. From these scriptures, it does 


10 


146 A More Excellent Ministry 

not follow that in order for God to rule in 
righteousness, His throne must always be 
above the ark containing the ten command¬ 
ment law. It is not essential that He should 
at all times he enthroned above the mercy- 
seat in order to exercise mercy. While the 
throne, the law, and the mercy-seat are in¬ 
dicative of God’s character, yet that char¬ 
acter is not dependent on a material throne 
or ark. Wherever God is, there the righteous¬ 
ness of His holy law, and the love and mercy 
revealed through the cross, are found. “He 
is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His 
ways are judgment: a God of truth and with¬ 
out iniquity, just and right is He.” “The 
Lord is righteous in all His ways, and merci- . 
ful in all His works.” “Who is a God like 
unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and pass- 
eth by the transgression of the remnant of 
His heritage? He retaineth not His anger 
forever, because He delighteth in mercy.” 
Deut. 32:4; Ps. 145:17, margin; Micah 7:18. 
God’s throne is established in righteousness 
and mercy. It is because the glorious temple 
in heaven is the dwelling-place of God, that 
it is the great center of the work for man’s 
redemption. 

The fact that in the work of judgment car- 


On the Throne 


147 


ried on in the second apartment, every man 
from Adam to the end of time will be meas¬ 
ured by the law, is sufficient to show the bind¬ 
ing obligations of that law in all ages. And 
the fact that 44 once for all,” Christ offered 
Himself for the sins of the world, is suffi¬ 
cient to insure pardon for all time. 4 4 Thanks 
be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” 

The Lord is King! Lift up thy voice, 

0 earth, and all ye heavens, rejoice! 

From world to world the joy shall ring, 

The Lord omnipotent is King! 

The Lord is King! Child of the dust, 

The Judge of all the earth is just; 

Holy and true are all His ways. 

Let every creature speak His praise. 

He reigns! Ye saints, exalt your strains; 

Your God is King, your Father reigns; 

And He is at the Father’s side, 

The Man of love, the Crucified. 

Come, make your wants, your burdens known; 
He will present them at the throne; 

And angel bands are waiting there, 

His messages of love to bear. 

0, when His wisdom can mistake, 

His might decay, His love forsake, 

Then may His children cease to sing, 

The Lord omnipotent is King! 

— Josiah Conder. 


CHAPTER XIV 


FROM EDEN TO CALVARY 

The mediatorial work for sin began at the 
fall. As soon as man sinned, Christ inter¬ 
posed between God and the sinner; and ever 
since that time, the Son has stood as the 
Mediator between God and man. To mediate, 
according to the Standard Dictionary, is “to 
interpose between two parties in order to har¬ 
monize or reconcile them; act as a mutual 
agent or friend; intercede; arbitrate.” 

The fall of man filled all heaven with sorrow. The 
world that God had made was blighted with the curse 
of sin, and inhabited by beings doomed to misery and 
death. There appeared no escape for those who had 
transgressed the law. Angels ceased their songs of 
praise. Throughout the heavenly courts there was 
mourning for the ruin that sin had wrought. 

The Son of God, heaven’s glorious Commander, 
was touched with pity for the fallen race. His heart 
was moved with infinite compassion as the woes of 
the lost world rose up before Him. But divine love 
had conceived a plan whereby man might be redeemed. 
The broken law of God demanded the life of the sinner. 
In all the universe there was but one who could, in 
behalf of man, satisfy its claims. Since the divine 
law is as sacred as God Himself, only one equal with 
God could make atonement for its transgression. None 
but Christ could redeem fallen man from the curse of 
the' law, and bring him again into harmony with 
Heaven. Christ would take upon Himself the guilt 
148 


149 


From Eden to Calvary 

and shame of sin,— sin so offensive to a holy God that 
it must separate the Father and His Son. Christ 
would reach to the depths of misery to rescue the 
ruined race. 

Before the Father He pleaded in the sinner’s be¬ 
half, while the host of heaven awaited the result with 
an intensity of interest that words can not express. 
Long continued was that mysterious communing,— 
“the council of peace” for the fallen sons of men.— 
“Patriarchs and Prophets,” page 63. 

“God was in Christ, reconciling the world 
unto Himself.” Even before the time when 
He “took upon Him the form of a servant, 
and was made in the likeness of men,” Christ 
associated in person with His people. En¬ 
shrouded in the cloudy pillar, He was the 
Leader of His people in their wilderness wan¬ 
derings. Ex. 23:20-23; 1 Cor. 10:1-4. The 
Scriptures record several instances where He 
appeared in the form of a man to holy men 
of old. With two angels He appeared to 
Abraham, with the warning message of the 
destruction of Sodom; and as Captain of the 
Lord’s host, He was seen by Joshua. Genesis 
18; Joshua 5:13-15. Since the time when 
Christ entered upon His work as priest in 
heaven, the Holy Spirit has been the agency 
appointed as Heaven’s special representative 
among men. Just before He was to leave the 
world, Jesus said to His sorrowing disciples, 


150 A More Excellent Ministry 

“It is expedient for you that I go away: for 
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come 
unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him 
unto you.” “I will pray the Father, and He 
shall give you another Comforter, that He 
may abide with you forever.” “I will not 
leave you comfortless [or “orphans,” mar¬ 
gin].” John 16:7; 14:16, 18. 

That Christ’s special work, since His ascen¬ 
sion, is in heaven, was recognized by the 
apostle Peter, who said to the assembled mul¬ 
titude: “Repent ye therefore, and be con¬ 
verted, that your sins may be blotted out, 
when the times of refreshing shall come from 
the presence of the Lord; and He shall send 
Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto 
you: whom the heaven must receive until the 
times of restitution of all things, which God 
hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy 
prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:19-21. 

Christ was the Author of the sacrificial 
system, which pointed forward to His death 
on the cross, and to His intercessory work in 
the heavenly sanctuary. 

For many centuries, while Satan worked for 
man’s ruin and degradation, Christ wrought 
unceasingly for his uplifting; but not for four 
thousand years did the time come for the 


From Eden to Calvary 151 

Saviour to begin His specific work in the 
sanctuary above, where, before the throne of 
His Father, He must stand as the High Priest 
and Advocate of His people. 

Not until the everlasting covenant had been 
ratified with His own blood shed on the cross, 
could He actually begin His priestly minis¬ 
tration in the heavens. 

Through those weary years of waiting, by 
means of the types and shadows of the sac¬ 
rificial system, the Saviour pointed penitent 
transgressors forward to the cross, and to 
His glorious ministry in the heavenly temple; 
and when by faith the sinner laid hold upon 
the plan of salvation, outlined in the everlast¬ 
ing covenant that was given to Adam, and 
confirmed to Abraham by the promise and 
oath of God, each of which was immutable, 
forgiveness was granted and righteousness 
imputed. But this was done only by virtue 
of the all-atoning sacrifice afterward made on 
Calvary. 

“And for this cause He is the Mediator 
of a new covenant, that a death having taken 
place for the redemption of the transgressions 
that were under the first covenant, they that 
have been called may receive the promise of 
the eternal inheritance. ’ ’ Ileb. 9:15, R.V. 


152 A More Excellent Ministry 

Not until Calvary — the great-consummation 
of the sacrifice purposed by Christ from the 
foundation of the world — had been reached, 
did the joyous strain fill the heavenly courts, 
“Now is come salvation, and strength, and 
the kingdom of our God, and the power of 
His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren 
is cast down, which accused them before our 
God day and night. ’’ Rev. 12:10. From the 
time when sin entered the Paradise of God, the 
new-covenant promises had been verified to 
thousands in the forgiveness of sin through 
faith in the Coming One. But now the cove¬ 
nant was sealed, and it only remained for the 
plan of salvation, which by the death of Christ 
had become as fixed as the eternal throne, to 
be carried out for them as truly as for us, by 
the final disposition of sin, through the priestly 
mediation of our Advocate in the heavenly 
sanctuary. 

In the pamphlet under review, under the sub¬ 
heading “No Ministering Priest for Forty Cen¬ 
turies,’ ’ it is asserted that — 

Our old position leaves the world for the first four 
thousand years without an interceding priest.— 
Page 53. 

The efficacy of the sacrifice and the priest¬ 
hood of Christ availed for sinners in every age 


153 


From Eden to Calvary 

of the world. Whether it be in the patriarchal, 
the Jewish, or the Christian age, the final re¬ 
sults to the believer are the same. One great 
difference between the typical and the real min¬ 
istry for sin is that while the ancient priests 
were obliged to offer many sacrifices, and to 
perform the same ministry many times, that 
which Christ does He accomplishes once for 
all. This is emphasized by the apostle, who 
shows that it is not necessary “that He should 
offer Himself often, as the high priest enter- 
eth into the holy place every year with blood 
of others; for then must He often have suf¬ 
fered since the foundation of the world: but 
now once in the end of the world hath He 
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of 
Himself. ... So Christ was once offered to 
bear the sins of many.’ ’ Heb. 9: 25-28. ‘ 1 By 
one offering, He hath made a perfect and per¬ 
petual expiation for the sanctified. ’ ’ Heb. 
10:14, H. T. Anderson’s translation. 

Because no other blood save His could avail 
to take away sin, therefore the work of Christ 
as priest in the sanctuary of the new covenant 
could not have been preceded by that of any 
other priest, however exalted he might be. All 
that could be accomplished by any ministration 
during that period was to point the penitent 


154 A More Excellent Ministry 

forward.to Christ, whose sacrifice and work 
would atone for sin. The great object of the 
priestly ministration that did exist during that 
period was to encourage faith in the real offer¬ 
ing and priestly ministration of Christ, which 
would actually take away sin; therefore the 
place for that priestly work to be performed 
was where the people could see it accomplished. 

It would be as consistent to declare that inas¬ 
much as the Judgment was not in progress be¬ 
fore the cross, those who lived in that age were 
exempt from the decisions of that heavenly tri¬ 
bunal, as to assert that there could have been 
no pardon at that time, unless the priestly min¬ 
istration in the first apartment of the heavenly 
sanctuary was carried forward during that 
period. God 4 ‘hath appointed a day, in the 
which He will judge the world in righteousness 
by that Man whom He hath ordained,’’ the 
apostle declared; “whereof He hath given as¬ 
surance unto all men, in that He hath raised 
Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31. In like 
manner He fixed a time for His intercessory 
work “before the veil,” the efficacy of which 
embraces all men who turn to Him in faith. 

Let none for a moment question the*strength 
of that faithful Word that offered forgiveness 
and cleansing, and by which the righteousness 


From Eden to Calvary 155 

of Christ was imputed to every believer from 
Adam to Christ. The blood had not yet been 
shed that could secure forgiveness of sin, but 
.the promise was sure that Christ would come 
to earth and suffer death, that He would rise in 
triumph from the grave, that He would com¬ 
plete the plan of salvation by His intercessory 
work in the heavenly sanctuary, and with glory 
and power would return to earth for the right¬ 
eous of all ages. In the divine knowledge these 
facts were so certain that the Son of God, an¬ 
ticipating the ultimate success of the plan of 
salvation, could, 1,500 years before His blood 
was actually shed, call forth His servant Moses 
from the tomb, glorified, to ascend to the city 
of God. And on the strength of that same 
surety, Enoch and Elijah could be translated. 

All through the pages of sacred history where the 
dealings of God with His chosen people are recorded, 
there are burning traces of the great I AM. Never 
has He given to the sons of men more open mani¬ 
festations of His power and glory than when He alone 
was acknowledged as Israel’s ruler and gave the law 
to His people. Here was a scepter swayed by no hu¬ 
man hand; and the stately goings forth of Israel’s 
invisible King were unspeakably grand and awful. 

In all these revelations of the divine presence, the 
glory of God was manifested through Christ. Not 
alone at the Saviour’s advent, but through all the 
ages after the fall and the promise of redemption, 
“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Him- 


156 A More Excellent Ministry 

self.” Christ was the foundation and center of the 
sacrificial system in both the patriarchal and the Jew¬ 
ish age. Since the sin of our first parents, there has 
been no direct communication between God and man. 
The Father has given the world into the hands of # 
Christ, that through His mediatorial work He may 
redeem man, and vindicate the authority and holiness 
of the law of God. All the communion between heaven 
and the fallen race has been through Christ. It was 
the Son of God that gave to our first parents the 
promise of redemption. It was He who revealed Him¬ 
self to the patriarchs. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, 
Jacob, and Moses understood the gospel. They looked 
for salvation through man’s Substitute and Surety. 
These holy men of old held communion with the Sa¬ 
viour who was to come to our world in human flesh; 
and some of them talked with Christ and heavenly 
angels face to face. 

Christ was not only the leader of the Hebrews in 
the wilderness,— the Angel in whom was the name of 
Jehovah, and who, veiled in the cloudy pillar, went 
before the host,— but it was He who gave the law to 
Israel. Amid the awful glory of Sinai, Christ de¬ 
clared in the hearing of all the people the ten precepts 
of His Father’s law. It was He who gave to Moses 
the law engraved upon the tables of stone. . . . 

The ceremonial law was given by Christ. Even 
after it was no longer to be observed, Paul presented 
it before the Jews in its true position and value, 
showing its place in the plan of redemption and its 
relation to the work of Christ; and the great apostle 
pronounces this law glorious, worthy of its divine 
Originator. The solemn service of the sanctuary typi¬ 
fied the grand truths that were to be revealed through 
successive generations. The cloud of incense ascend¬ 
ing with the prayers of Israel represents His right- 


157 


From Eden to Calvary 


eousness that alone can make the sinner’s prayer ac¬ 
ceptable to God; the bleeding victim on the altar of 
sacrifice testified of a Redeemer to come; and from the 
holy of holies the visible token of the divine presence 
shone forth. Thus through age after age of darkness 
and apostasy, faith was kept alive in the hearts of 
men until the time came for the advent of the prom¬ 
ised Messiah. 

Jesus was the light of His people,— the light of the 
world,— before He came to earth in the form of hu¬ 
manity. The first gleam of light that pierced the 
gloom in which sin had wrapped the world, came from 
Christ. And from Him has come every ray of heaven’s 
brightness that has fallen upon the inhabitants of the 
earth. In the plan of redemption, Christ is the Alpha 
and the Omega,— the First and the Last. 

Since the Saviour shed His blood for the remission 
of sins, and ascended to heaven “to appear in the 
presence of God for us,” light has been streaming 
from the cross of Calvary and from the holy places 
of the sanctuary above. But the clearer light granted 
us, should not cause us to despise that which in earlier 
times was received through the types pointing to the 
coming Saviour. The gospel of Christ sheds light 
upon the Jewish economy, and gives significance to 
the ceremonial law. As new truths are revealed, and 
that which has been known from the beginning is 
brought into clearer light, the character and purposes 
of God are made manifest in His dealings with His 
chosen people. Every additional ray of light that we 
receive gives us a clearer understanding of the plan 
of redemption, which is the working out of the divine 
will in the salvation of man. We see new beauty and 
force in the inspired Word, and we study its pages 
with a deeper and more absorbing interest. . . . 


158 A More Excellent Ministry 

The Saviour typified in the rites and ceremonies of 
the Jewish law is the very same that is revealed in 
the gospel. The clouds that enveloped His divine 
form have railed back; the mists and shades have 
disappeared; and Jesus, the world’s Redeemer, stands 
revealed .—“Patriarchs and Prophets,” pages 366, 
367, 373. 

Not all the blood of beasts 
On Jewish altars slain, 

Could give the guilty conscience peace, 

Or wash away the stain. 

But Christ, the Lamb of God, 

Takes all our sins away; 

A sacrifice of richer blood 
And nobler name than they. 

Believing, we rejoice 
To see the curse remove; 

We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice, 

And sing His dying love. 

— Isaac Watts. 




CHAPTER XV 

THE TIME IS FULFILLED 

Though not so manifest to human vision, 
God's care for His people is just as real to¬ 
day as when they journeyed from Egypt to 
Canaan. He is 4 4 the same yesterday, and 
to-day, and forever." God's ways, however, 
are not our ways, and His people are some¬ 
times sorely disappointed in their expecta¬ 
tions. Yet everything that comes to the church 
is by His permission, and for her good. 
Enfeebled and defective, needing constantly 
to be warned and counseled, the church is 
nevertheless the object of Christ's supreme 
regard. 

Often the minds even of God's servants 
are so blinded by human opinions, and the 
traditions and false teaching of men, that 
they are unable to grasp fully the great things 
revealed in His Word. Thus it was with the 
disciples when the Saviour was with them 
in person. Their minds had become imbued 
with the popular conception that the Messiah 
would reign as a temporal prince, and would 
exalt Israel to the throne of universal empire. 
Was it not written that He should take 4 4 the 
throne of His father David"! They did all 

159 


160 A More Excellent Ministry 

they could to bring about their expectations, 
frequently urging Christ to assert His right 
to the kingdom and permit them to raise Him 
to the throne. 

Christ told them plainly and repeatedly of 
His 4 4 decease which He should accomplish at 
Jerusalem,” but they could not understand 
His words. Even after His resurrection they 
still clung to the vain hope that Jesus would 
establish an earthly kingdom. This is evi¬ 
denced by the question asked the Saviour on 
the Mount of Olives just before His ascen¬ 
sion, i 1 Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore 
again the kingdom to Israel V’ Yet the en¬ 
tire work of the Saviour while on earth, and 
also His mediatorial work in heaven, had been 
prophetically outlined for six centuries. 

In the eighth chapter of Daniel, the prophet 
relates the vision in which he saw the sym¬ 
bols of the ram, the rough goat with the no¬ 
table horn between his eyes, and the four horns 
which came up when this horn was broken, one 
of which waxed exceeding great, and, mag¬ 
nifying itself against the Prince of the host, 
bitterly persecuted the people of God. To 
the question as to how long this oppressive 
power should carry on its work against the 
people and the work of God, the answer was 


161 


The Time Is Fulfilled 

given, “Unto two thousand and three hun¬ 
dred days; then shall the sanctuary be 
cleansed . 9 ’ 

In obedience to the divine command, “Ga¬ 
briel, make this man to understand the 
vision, ’ ’ the angel appeared to Daniel, and 
explained to him the meaning of the symbols 
he had seen. The terrible picture so af¬ 
fected the prophet that he “fainted, and was 
sick certain days.” “Afterward,” he de¬ 
clared, “I rose up, and did the king’s busi¬ 
ness; and I was astonished at the vision, but 
none understood it.” 

There is no record in the eighth chapter 
that the angel explained the period of time 
referred to in the vision, but in the ninth chap¬ 
ter this explanation is given. Here it is 
stated that while the prophet was engaged 
in earnest supplication, Gabriel, whom he had 
seen in the vision at the beginning, being 
caused to fly swiftly, touched him about the 
time of the evening oblation. The prophet 
continues: 

“He informed me, and talked with me, and 
said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give 
thee skill and understanding. At the begin¬ 
ning of thy supplications the commandment 
came forth, and I am come to show thee; for 


11 


162 A More Excellent Ministry 

thou art greatly beloved: therefore under¬ 
stand the matter, and consider the vision.” 
Dan. 9: 21-23. 

The angel at once resumes the explanation 
of the vision, introducing immediately that 
portion of the prophecy pertaining to time. 

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy 
people,” he declares. The word “deter¬ 
mined” means literally to “cut otf”; hence 
we conclude that the seventy weeks were to 
be cut otf from the 2,300 days, since that was 
the only period that had been mentioned in 
the vision. The seventy weeks must therefore 
be a part of the 2,300 days, the two periods 
having one common starting-point. In ex¬ 
planation of the seventy weeks, or 490 days, 
Gabriel says: 

“Know therefore and understand, that from 
the going forth of the commandment to re¬ 
store and to build Jerusalem unto the Mes¬ 
siah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and 
threescore and two weeks: the street shall be 
built again, and the wall, even in troublous 
times. And after threescore and two weeks 
shall Messiah be cut otf, but not for Himself. 
. . . And He shall confirm the covenant with 
many for one week: and in the midst of the 


The Time Is Fulfilled 163 

week He shall cause the sacrifice and the 
oblation to cease.’’ 

In its most complete form, the command¬ 
ment to restore and to build Jerusalem was 
issued by Artaxerxes, king of Persia, b. c. 457, 
and the record of it is found in the seventh 
chapter of Ezra. From b. c. 457, the date 
when the commandment was completed, ‘ 4 unto 
the Messiah the Prince,”—the Anointed,— 
the angel declared, “ shall be seven weeks, and 
threescore, and two weeks ’ ’; namely, 69 weeks, 
or 483 days. From the autumn of b. c. 457, 
when the decree of Artaxerxes went into ef¬ 
fect, 483 years extend to the autumn of a. d. 
27, at which time Jesus was anointed with the 
Holy Ghost at His baptism. Acts 10: 37, 38; 
Mark 1:9, 10. After His baptism, “ Jesus 
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the 
kingdom of God, and saying, The time is ful¬ 
filled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: 
repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 
1:14, 15. Unquestionably the Saviour here 
referred to the only prophetic period that 
pointed out the time of His appearing; namely, 
the 483 years that was to reach “unto Mes¬ 
siah the Prince,” and which was then ful¬ 
filled. 

In obedience to Christ’s commission, the 


164 A More Excellent Ministry 

disciples also went forth bearing the message, 
11 The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of 
God is at hand.” The Lord wrought for them 
so marvelously that they “returned again with 
joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject 
unto us through Thy name. ’ ’ Mark 1:15; 
Luke 10:17. The message borne by the dis¬ 
ciples at this time was based on the great 
prophetic period that terminated in 1844. 
They undoubtedly had some knowledge of the 
prophecy found in the eighth and ninth chap¬ 
ters of Daniel, and understood that it was 
at least partially fulfilled in Christ; yet they 
did not have a complete knowledge of it. 

When Christ was put to death, how bitter 
was the disappointment of these disciples! 
With what despair and anguish their hearts 
were wrung! Instead of ascending the throne 
of David, as they confidently expected, He 
had been seized by the cruel mob, scourged, 
derided, condemned, and they had seen Him 
nailed to the cross to die in agony. 'Dark was 
their night of sorrow as with stricken hearts 
they turned from Calvary to their homes, that 
memorable Sabbath evening! But while men 
wept with grief, all heaven rang with glad 
anthems of praise; heavenly beings under- 


165 


The Time Is Fulfilled 

stood as men could not what the sacrifice of 
Calvary would accomplish for a lost world. 

Aijd the sorrow of the disciples was turned 
to joy when, after His resurrection, they 
looked once more upon the form of their be¬ 
loved Eedeemer. Then they understood that 
the death of Jesus was for the salvation of a 
lost race. And when at Pentecost they received 
the promise of the Father in the descent of 
the Holy Spirit, they were assured that the 
service in the heavenly sanctuary was at last 
begun, and that Jesus was now their High 
Priest and Advocate before the Father. Now 
they understood the meaning of Christ’s death. 
In their hopes and expectations for the Mes¬ 
siah’s glorious reign, they seem not to have 
understood the statement, “ After threescore 
and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off.” Now 
they saw that the Saviour’s death, which had 
brought them to the verge of despair, was 
the exact fulfilment of the same prophecy that 
had pointed out the very time of Christ’s 
anointing for His public ministry, and which 
in their earlier experiences had given them 
such confidence. 

The prophecy of Daniel had even foretold 
the year of Christ’s death. At the Saviour’s 
baptism, 69 of the 70 weeks had passed, and 


166 A More Excellent Ministry 

but one remained. ‘ 4 He shall confirm the 
covenant with many for one week,” the 
prophecy had declared; “and in the midst 
of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and 
the oblation to cease.” 

The Hebrew word khay-tsee, here rendered 
“midst,” means “half or middle.” — Strong. 
The passage is thus rendered by Isaac Leeser: 
“And in the half of the week will He cause 
the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” 

At the Passover in the spring of a. d. 31, 
three and a half years after His baptism, 
our Lord was crucified. With the offering 
upon Calvary of this supreme sacrifice, the 
sacrifices and oblations of the Jewish ritual 
virtually ceased. It is true that for a short 
time, until Jerusalem was destroyed in a. d. 
70, the sacrificial system was kept up; but it 
had lost its significance. In the death of the 
Lamb of God, type had met antitype. Hence¬ 
forth the rites and ceremonies of Israel's wor¬ 
ship were meaningless. 

Three and a half years later, a. d. 34, the 
seventy weeks, or 490 years, that had been 
allotted to Israel, ended. In the stoning of 
Stephen, and the general persecution that was 
carried forward through the action of the 
Sanhedrim, the Jewish nation sealed its re- 


167 


* The Time Is Fulfilled 

[ jection of the gospel. Thus far every speci- 
. hcation of the prophecy is strikingly fulfilled, 
| an d the beginning of the seventy weeks is 
l fixed beyond question at b. c. 457. 

|j Since the 490 years were “cut off” from 
the 2,300, there remained still 1,810 years to 
: be_ fulfilled. At the expiration of the 490 
years, 34 years of the Christian era had al- 
! ready passed; and this, added to 1,810, gives 
i us 1844 as the date of the expiration of the 
[ 2,300 days of Dan. 8:14, at which time, the 
r angel Gabriel declared, (( the sanctuary shall 
he cleansed.” Thus the time for the cleansing 
of the sanctuary was as definitely pointed out 
as was the time for the offering of the great 
antitypical sacrifice on Calvary, and the be¬ 
ginning of the ministry of our great High 
Priest in the first apartment of the heavenly 
sanctuary. 

At the expiration of the first division of 
this great prophetic period the Lamb of God 
was slain , and the ministry of our great 
High Priest in the first apartment of the 
heavenly sanctuary began; while at the ex¬ 
piration of the entire period of twenty-three 
hundred years He passed through the veil 
and began His ministry in the second apart- 


168 A More Excellent Ministry 

ment, or most holy place, and the final Judg¬ 
ment was begun. 

The experience of those whom God raised 
up to proclaim the Judgment message in 
1843 and 1844, was similar to that of the 
early disciples. Like the early disciples, they 
fulfilled the Scripture, preaching the message 
in the very words of inspiration, “Fear God, 
and give glory to Him; for the hour of His 
Judgment is come.” They believed that the 
Saviour would come to earth to judge the 
quick and the dead, to cleanse the earth — 
which they supposed was the sanctuary of the 
prophecy — by fire; and like the first disci¬ 
ples, they were bitterly disappointed. 

Instead of beginning His eternal reign on 
the throne of David at the end of the seventy 
weeks of Dan. 9: 24, as the disciples hoped, 
the Lamb of God died. Instead of coming to 
earth to begin His eternal reign at the end 
of the twenty-three hundred years of Dan. 
8:14, as the Advent believers expected, our 
great High Priest passed through the veil 
of the temple in heaven, “the Judgment was 
set, and the books were opened. ’ ’ Dan. 7: 
9, 10, 13. In the first instance the covenant of 
grace was ratified, and the Saviour’s work of 
intercession began; in the second, the great 


169 


The Time Is Fulfilled 

day of atonement was reached, and our great 
High Priest passed through the veil, and by 
virtue of His own blood, began the work of 
cleansing the sanctuary. 

Regarding the service of cleansing the 
earthly sanctuary as carried on by ancient 
Israel, Dean Farrar says, in his ‘‘ Early Days 
of Christianity”: 

If any one desired to contemplate the Levitical 
high-priesthood in its grandest phase — to realize its 
antiquity, its sacredness, the splendor of its ministra¬ 
tions, and the awful sense of responsibility with which 
its representative was bound to fulfil its functions — 
he would naturally have turned his thoughts to the 
great day of atonement — that “Sabbath of Sabba- 
tism” which was the most memorable day of the 
Jewish year. It was the day of expiation for the 
sins of the whole people, and was observed as a per¬ 
fect Sabbath. It was the one fast-day of all the 
Jewish calendar. It was emphatically the day. 

It may be safely said that, to the imagination of 
a Jew, the most solemn moment of the year was that 
in which the high priest in his white robes stood alone 
before the presence of God in the holy of holies; and 
that the proudest and gladdest moment of the year 
was that in which, awestruck but safe, he came forth 
from the holy place in his golden garments to bless 
and to forgive the forgiven worshipers. 

So awful was the day of atonement that we are told 
in a Jewish book of ritual that the very angels run 
to and fro in fear and trembling, saying, “Lo, the 
day of Judgment has come!” 

This was the type; in 1844 we reached the 


170 A More Excellent Ministry 

') 

antitype, when our great High Priest, ar¬ 
rayed in His priestly robes, passed through 
the veil of the heavenly temple. Then the 
final day of Judgment ‘was begun, and the 
message of Rev. 14: 6, 7, was due: 

4 ‘And I saw another angel fly in the midst 
of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to 
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, 
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, 
and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear 
God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of 
His Judgment is come: and worship Him that 
made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the 
fountains of waters.’’ 

Thus perfectly did type meet antitype. The 
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is 
at hand. The last sacred, solemn work in 
behalf of man — the Judgment — has begun. 
Soon — none know how soon — the work of 
our great High Priest within the veil will be 
finished. Then Jesus will come forth from 
the holy of holies, bearing the sins of His 
people, and will place them upon the head of 
the antitypical scapegoat — the originator of 
sin. Then He who was first our Prophet, 
secondly our Priest, and lastly and eternally 
our King, will come for His waiting people. 
Then our conflicts, our trials, our disappoint- 


171 


The Time Is Fulfilled 

ments, our sorrows, forever ended, in the 
renewed, beautified, glorified Eden we shall 
dwell with Him who loved us and washed us 
from our sins in His own blood. To Him 
be blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, 
forever and ever. 

We would see Jesus, for the shadows lengthen 
Across this little landscape of our life; 

We would see Jesus, our weak faith to strengthen 
For the last weariness — the final strife. 

We would see Jesus — the great Rock foundation, 
Whereon our feet were set with sov ’reign grace; 
Not life, nor death, with all their agitation, 

Can thence remove us, if we see His face. 

We would see Jesus — this is all we’-re needing; 

Strength, joy, and willingness come with the sight. 
We would see Jesus, dying, risen, pleading. 

Then welcome, day! and farewell, mortal night! 

— Ellen Ellis. 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE SANCTUARY DEFILED 

Having sliown the entire service in the 
earthly sanctuary to be typical of the service 
carried on by our great High Priest in the 
heavenly sanctuary, let ns consider briefly the 
subject of the atonement as it is revealed in 
the typical service of the typical sanctuary. 
Type and antitype are founded on the same 
principle; the one reveals the other. 

It is of the very nature of a type to signify the 
same thing, to teach the same truth, as its antitype, 
though under a different form and in a different way. 
A type is the appointed sign, the symbolic repre¬ 
sentation, of something future. That which consti¬ 
tutes it a sign, a prophetic symbol, is its resemblance 
to the thing signified. . . . Determine what the im¬ 
position of hands in the sacrificial rite implied, and 
you also determine just in what sense Christ stands 
related to the sinner; determine on what principle 
the blood upon the altar avails to cover sin, and you 
thereby determine also how the blood of Christ se¬ 
cures remission. 

The lamb upon Israel’s altar, being a type of the 
“Lamb” on Calvary, points out with unerring cer¬ 
tainty the way in which atonement is made, how¬ 
ever much or little difficulty there may be in seeing 
why the result was secured in the way indicated.— 
“Import of Jewish Sacrifices,” pages 4950, 51. 

Upon all blood sacrifices, with the excep¬ 
tion of the Lord’s goat offered on the day 


172 


The Sanctuary Defiled 173 

of atonement, there was the imposition of 
hands. The true meaning of this rite may be 
obtained by comparing various occasions where 
this ceremony was performed. The following 
scriptures are of interest in this connection: 

“ Bring forth him that hath cursed without 
the camp; and let all that heard him lay their 
hands upon his head, and let all the congre¬ 
gation stone him. ’ ’ Lev. 24:14. 

‘ 1 And thou slialt bring the Levites before 
the Lord: and the children of Israel shall put 
their hands upon the Levites." Num. 8:10. 

4 4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee 
Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is 
the Spirit, and lay thine hand upon him." 
Num. 27:18. 

“And Joshua the son of Nun was full of 
the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his 
hands upon him ." Deut. 34:9. 

The idea common to all these cases seems 
to be the transference of something to the 
one upon whom hands were laid. In the case 
of the blasphemer, it was the transference of 
guilt from those who had incidentally become 
sharers of it, in a certain sense, to the trans¬ 
gressor, that he alone might bear his lawful 
punishment. In the case of the Levites when 


174 


A More Excellent Ministry 


they were set apart for the service in the 
sanctuary, it was the transference to them of 
the duties and responsibilities of the first¬ 
born, with all the honor that accompanied the 
office. “Take the Levites instead of all the 
first-born among the children of Israel.” 
Num. 3: 45. Likewise, with the substitution of 
Joshua for Moses, there was the transfer, 
to the former, by the laying on of hands, of 
the office of leader of the people, and the 
spirit of wisdom that was needed for the re¬ 
sponsibility. In like manner, when the sinner 
brought his offering to the sanctuary, and, 
laying his hands upon its head, confessed 
over it his sin, the sin was thereby trans¬ 
ferred to the offering, which had been selected 
as his substitute. This is recognized by nearly 
all who have studied the significance of the 
Jewish system. 

By laying his hands upon the head of his offer¬ 
ing, the offerer made the animal his substitute, to be 
and to do all that from the circumstances of the case 
he himself was unable to be and do; to die in his 
stead — the victim’s life for his life, the victim’s 
blood for his blood, to be accepted on the altar, ac¬ 
cording to t*he mercy of God, in place of his own.— 
“Worship of the Old Covenant,” pages 39, 40. 

By imposition of hands the offerer has transferred 
his sins to the victim, has devoted it to the specific 
object of atonement. The priest, having taken it at 


The Sanctuary Defiled 175 

his hands, becomes responsible for his sins, and his 
eating of the victim [as was the case when the priest 
did not take the blood into the holy place and sprinkle 
it before the veil] symbolically declares that he takes 
the offerer's sin upon himself to make expiation there- 
f ° r -—“Import of Jewish Sacrifices,” pages 74, 75. 

.r. T he so ^ emn rite of imposition could mean nothing' 
if it did not mean the transfer of the offerer’s guilt 
to a substituted victim. The sacrifices, then, con¬ 
tinually kept before the minds of the people the 
necessity of expiation, and the only way in which 
it could be wrought,—by the sacrifice of life for 
life.— J. A. Alexander, D.D. 

And that the confession of sin, and the 
laying of hands on the head of the victim, 
symbolized the transfer of that sin, is so 
clearly stated in Scripture that there can be 
no doubt of its meaning: 

“Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the 
head of the live goat, and confess over him 
all the iniquities of the children of Israel, 
and all their transgressions in all their sins, 
putting them upon the head of the goat: . . . 
and the goat shall hear upon him all their 
iniquities.” Lev. 16:21, 22. 

Surely the same ceremony, when performed 
by the sinner in the same manner, must repre¬ 
sent likewise a transfer of his sin by the con¬ 
fession of sin and laying on of hands. 

The sin that by confession was transferred 
to the sacrificial victim was borne by the 


176 A More Excellent Ministry 

priest into the sanctuary. The sinner having 
done his part, it now remained for the priest 
to make final disposition of the sin, to see 
that its penalty was met and pardon granted. 
In the type, the sin was borne into the sanc¬ 
tuary either by the blood of the victim, which 
was taken by the priest and sprinkled before 
the veil, or, when this was not done, by the 
flesh which was eaten by the priest in the holy 
place. That in the latter instance the sin 
was borne by the priest, is expressly declared 
in Lev. 10:17. In grief and astonishment 
Moses inquired of the sons of Aaron: 

“Wherefore have ye not eaten the sin- 
offering in the holy place, seeing it is most 
holy, and God hath given it you to bear the 
iniquity of the congregation , to make atone¬ 
ment for them before the Lord?” 

It is “through the offering of the body of 
Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10) that 
sin is removed from the penitent transgressor. 
After finding a temporary resting-place in the 
heavenly sanctuary, it is finally removed by 
the cleansing blood of Jesus, and returned to 
the head of the originator of sin. Then it will 
be eternally destroyed in “the lake which 
burnetii with fire and brimstone,” where the 
devil is to be cast. Rev. 21:8; 20:10. 


177 


The Sanctuary Defiled 

When John said, “Behold the Lamb of God, 
which beareth the sin of the world’’ (John 
1:29, margin), he undoubtedly referred to 
Jesus as the antitypical Lamb, the sinner’s 
substitute, who would bear the sin of every 
penitent sinner even as the lamb in type bore 
the sin of the sinner. 

Referring to the position that the blood of 
the sacrificial victim was the medium by 
which sin was transferred to the sanctuary, 
the author of “Cast Out” raises the question: 

Did Christ’s blood defile the heavenly sanctuary? 
. . . Who is willing to take the responsibility of de¬ 
claring that the blood of Christ, which the Holy 
Scriptures call “precious blood,” was so defiled with 
sin after Christ had paid the penalty on Calvary, 
that when He sprinkled that blood, it defiled the 
sanctuary ? — Page 63. 

It is asserted that — 

Blood cleanses, and nowhere in the Scriptures is 
the blood of the sinner or the sinner’s substitute ever 
represented as defiling the sanctuary or the land. 

The blood of the sinner or his substitute, instead 
of defiling, always cleansed.— Page 62. 

Referring again to the distinction already 
made between the sin-offering and the Lord’s 
goat, we would suggest that the blood of 
Jesus Christ, the sin-bearer, “cleanseth us 
from all sin.” “If we confess our sins, He is 
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and 


12 


178 A More Excellent Ministry 

to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ’ ’ But 
the sin is not finally disposed of when it is 
confessed. It rests in the heavenly sanctuary, 
with other sins for which atonement has 
been made. The blood of Christ,— the sin- 
bearer,— is the medium of transfer of the sin 
from the individual, to the sanctuary; for 
without this blood, the individual must ever 

7 # V 

have borne his own sin. Strictly speaking, 
it is not the blood, but the sin, that defiles 
the sanctuary. The blood is represented as 
having cleansed the sinner; and finally, on 
the great day of atonement, the blood of Christ 
as the Sinless One,— the antitypical Lord’s 
goat,— avails to cleanse also the sanctuary. 
Thus in each instance it is cleansing blood, 
first cleansing the sinner, then the sanctuary. 

Surely no one would claim that it was blood 
that defiled the sanctuary, only in so far as 
it represented the sin of the repentant trans¬ 
gressor, borne into the sanctuary by means 
of the blood of his substitute. Except the 
blood of the lamb had cleansed the sinner, it 
could not itself be defiled; and, having cleansed 
the sinner, it is then sprinkled in the sanc¬ 
tuary. Thus the sanctuary is defiled by the 
blood that had cleansed the sinner, because 
the blood is then sin-laden. And surely the 


The Sanctuary Defiled 179 

blood that has thus become a medium of 
escape for the sinner, that frees him from 
pollution, may be regarded as most ‘ 4 pre¬ 
cious.’ ’ It is even said of our Lord Himself, 
the Spotless One, “Him who knew no sin 
He [the Father] made to be sin on our be¬ 
half ; that we might become the righteous¬ 
ness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21, A.R.V. 

That the author of “Cast Out” misun¬ 
derstands the significance of the sin-laden 
blood of the sin-offering, and of the blood of 
the Lord’s goat, over which no sins were 
confessed, is evident from the following 
question: 

If the sprinkling of the blood upon the altar of 
incense sprinkled sin upon it and thereby defiled it, 
how could that same altar be cleansed from that 
sprinkled sin on the day of atonement by the sprin¬ 
kling of more sin-laden blood on that same altar? — 
Page 62. 

We do not maintain that the blood by 
means of which the altar was cleansed on the 
day of atonement was “sin-laden.” The 
cleansing of the sanctuary was accomplished 
by the blood of the Lord’s goat, upon which 
there was no imposition of hands, no con¬ 
fession of sin, and which typified the Sinless 
One. See Chapter IX. 

That “blood” is often used in the Scrip- 


180 A More Excellent Ministry 

tures to represent sin, is apparent by a brief 
study of certain passages. When the Jews 
demanded of Pilate that Jesus be crucified, 
Pilate made several fruitless efforts to dis¬ 
suade them from their purpose. It is stated 
that “when Pilate saw that he could pre¬ 
vail nothing, but that rather a tumult was 
made, he took water, and washed his hands 
before the multitude, saying, I am innocent 
of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. 
Then answered all the people, and said, His 
blood be on us, and on our children.” 
Matt. 27: 24, 25. 

In the law of Moses, it was declared: “If 
one be found slain in the land which the 
Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying 
in the field, and it be not known who hath 
slain him: ... all the elders of that city, 
that are next unto the slain man, shall wash 
their hands over the heifer that is beheaded 
in the valley: and they shall answer and say, 
Our hands have not shed this blood, neither 
have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, 0 Lord, 
unto Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast re¬ 
deemed, and lay not innocent blood unto Thy 
people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall 
be forgiven them. So shalt thou put away the 
guilt of innocent blood from among you, when 


The Sanctuary Defiled 181 

thou shalt do that which is right in the sight 
of the Lord.” Deut. 21:1, 6-9. 

When Paul was at Corinth, and‘the Jews 
“opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he 
shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your 
blood be upon your own heads; I am clean.” 
Acts 18: 6. 

And later, when giving his final instruction 
to the church elders gathered at Miletus, 
Paul said, “Wherefore I take you to record 
this day, that I am pure from the blood of 
all men.” Acts 20:26. 

Paul could not be held accountable for the 
sins of those for whom he had labored; for 
he had not shunned to declare the whole coun¬ 
sel of God. 

In the above scriptures, with others of a 
similar import that might be cited, blood is 
used to represent guilt. By following a cer¬ 
tain course in the case of an uncertain mur¬ 
der, the people were told, “The blood shall be 
forgiven them.” So the guilt of the sinner 
was represented by the blood of his substi¬ 
tute, and was permitted to rest in the sanc¬ 
tuary till the great day of atonement, when 
the blood of the Lord’s goat, representing the 
blood of Christ as the Sinless One, was 


182 A More Excellent Ministry 

sprinkled in each apartment of the sanctu¬ 
ary to cleanse it of its accumulated guilt. 

In his chapter on “How the Sanctuary Was 
Defiled,” the author of “Cast Out” refers to 
Lev. 20:1-3; Num. 19: 20; and Lev. 15: 31. 
In the first of these references, it is pointed 
out that when one of the children of Israel 
should give of his seed to Molech, he should 
be cut off, “because he hath given of his seed 
unto Molech, to defile My sanctuary, and to 
profane My holy name.” The other two 
passages refer to the cutting off of certain 
persons who, being ceremonially unclean, re¬ 
fused to go through the ceremony of puri¬ 
fication. On this slender foundation, he 
builds up an argument that it is the sins of 
all men that defiles the heavenly sanctuary; 
thus attempting to destroy the force of the 
position that by means of the blood of the 
sin-offerings, sin was transferred to the sanc¬ 
tuary. It is asserted that — 

The sanctuary is defiled before he [the sinner] 
confesses his uncleanness, and if he never confesses 
it and is cut off, still he hath defiled the sanctuary 
of the Lord. . . . 

All the sins of men defile the sanctuary and are 
cleansed by the blood of the sinner or his substitute. 
— Pages 58, 66. 

In the scriptures used by the author as the 


The Sanctuary Defiled 183 

foundation for his argument, it might be 
noticed that the people referred to were cut 
off from the congregation, because they had 
defiled the sanctuary. If from this the con¬ 
clusion is drawn that in the same sense, all 
sin defiled the sanctuary, we would infer that 
whenever any one sinned, he must be cut 
off. Moreover, no mention is made that the 
earthly sanctuary was defiled by any but the 
sins of the children of Israel. 

It is true that the commission of sin by 
the people is represented in Scripture as de¬ 
filing the earth. 

“The earth also is defiled under the inhab¬ 
itants thereof; because they have transgressed 
the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the 
everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the 
curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell 
therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants 
of the earth are burned, and few men left.” 
Isa. 24: 5, 6. 

In the days of Noah, “God looked upon 
the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for 
all flesh had corrupted his way upon the 
earth. And God said unto Noah, the end of 
all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is 
filled with violence through them; and, be¬ 
hold, I will destroy them with the earth.” 
Gen. 6 :12, 13. 


184 A More Excellent Ministry 

The Lord then cleansed the earth from its 
defilement with a flood of waters which swept 
every sinner from the earth. He will once 
again cleanse the earth from its defilement, 
this time by fire. The elements will then 
‘‘melt with fervent heat, the earth also and 
the works that are therein shall be burned 
up.” 2 Peter 3:10. This cleansing will be 
accomplished “when the Lord Jesus shall be 
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 
in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that 
know not God, and that obey not the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be pun¬ 
ished with everlasting destruction from the 
presence of the Lord, and from the glory of 
His power.” 2 Thess. 1:7-9. 

In the days of Zedekiah, Judah became so 
corrupt that of them it was said: 

“Moreover all the chief of the priests, and 
the people, transgressed very much after all 
the abominations of the heathen; and polluted 
the house of the Lord which He had hallowed 
in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their 
fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising 
up betimes, and sending; because He had 
compassion on His people, and on His dwell¬ 
ing-place : but they mocked the messengers 
of God, and despised His words, and misused 


The Sanctuary Defiled 185 

His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord 
arose against His people, till there was no 
remedy. ’’ 2 Chron. 36:14-16. 

Because of their sins the Lord “brought 
upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew 
their young men with the sword in the house 
of their sanctuary. . . . He gave them all 
into his hand.” 

The house of God was burned, the walls 
of Jerusalem were broken down, and Judah 
suffered a captivity of seventy years. 

The sins of God’s people that polluted the 
land did in a certain sense defile the sanc¬ 
tuary. They brought the sacred things of 
God into ill repute among the nations. But 
God’s method of cleansing the land and the 
sanctuary from this pollution, was by judg¬ 
ments brought against the inhabitants of the 
land. This defilement, and the manner of 
cleansing from this defilement, are far dif¬ 
ferent from that of the sanctuary, and its 
cleansing. This is not the defilement from 
which the sanctuary was cleansed by the atone¬ 
ment wrought out for the people of God in 
the earthly sanctuary; otherwise the people 
need not have been carried into captivity. 
Through the ceremony of cleansing the sanc¬ 
tuary on the day of atonement, the sin would 


186 A More Excellent Ministry 

have been removed from the land, the pollu¬ 
tion from the sanctuary. 

It was the sins of Israel from which the 
sanctuary was cleansed on the great day of 
atonement (Lev. 16:16, 19, 21, 22); hence it 
follows that it was the uncleanness of the 
children of Israel, and not of all men, which 
made necessary that work. And the only 
sins from which the sanctuary was cleansed 
on the day of atonement, were those that had 
been carried in through repentance and con¬ 
fession, and by means of a substitute. Grant¬ 
ing that in another sense, the sanctuary is 
defiled by the sins of all men, the cleansing 
of the sanctuary from that defilement is ef¬ 
fected not by the atoning work of Christ, but 
by the total destruction of the impenitent. As 
in the type, so in the antitype. It is said: 

“Some men’s sins are open beforehand, 
going before to judgment; and some men they 
follow after.” 1 Tim. 5:24. 

The one who by repentance and confes¬ 
sion transfers his sins to “the Lamb of God, 
which beareth the sin of the world,” thereby 
sends his sins “before to judgment,” while 
the sins of the one who does not do this, will 
“follow after”; and as they are still upon 
the individual instead of in the sanctuary, they 


The Sanctuary Defiled 187 

will be cleansed from the universe of God, 
in the day 4 ‘that shall burn as an oven,” when 
“all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, 
shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall 
burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that 
it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” 
Mai. 4:1. 

Then the reproach that has rested upon 
the sanctuary of God —the habitation of the 
Most High — and upon God’s holy name ever 
since Lucifer fell from his exalted station in 
heaven, will be rolled away, the universe will 
once more be clean, “Israel shall blossom and 
bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit,” 
and “the earth shall be filled with the knowl¬ 
edge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters 
cover the sea.” 

From the above considerations it is clear 
that the sin of the penitent Israelite was trans¬ 
ferred to his substitute by the imposition of 
hands and by confession, and through the 
blood or flesh of his offering was borne into 
the sanctuary. On the day of atonement the 
sanctuary was cleansed from this same sin 
by the sprinkling of the blood of the Lord’s 
goat, representing the blood of the spotless 
Lamb of God. 

Jesus died to provide a way of escape for 


188 A More Excellent Ministry 

all men; but those only will benefit by His 
death who as truly make Him their offering 
as did the Israelite who brought from his 
flock his lamb, and, placing his hands upon 
its head, confessed over it his sins. He who 
does this will know the blessedness of sins 
forgiven, and if faithful to the end, his great 
High Priest will come out of the heavenly 
sanctuary, after having blotted his sins from 
the books above, and place those same sins 
on the head of the great rebel leader, who 
will bear them into the lake of fire. 

Dear reader, are your sins daily trans¬ 
ferred to the sanctuary by the blood of your 
Substitute ? Do you have the constant as¬ 
surance that your sins are all forgiven, and 
when your case is called up in the Judgment, 
will be blotted out of the books by the pre¬ 
cious blood of the Lamb of Calvary? Or will 
they remain upon you, to be purged by the 
fires of the great day of the Lord? 

({ Prepare to meet thy God!” 

So Christ, the heavenly Lamb, 

Takes all my sin away; 

A sacrifice of nobler name 
And richer blood than they. 

My faith would lay her hand 
On that dear head of Thine, 

While like a penitent I stand, 

And there confess my sin. 


jCHAPTER XVII 

THE CLEANSING OF THE SANCTUARY 

The cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was 
accomplished by sprinkling the blood of the 
Lord's goat on the mercy-seat and before 
the mercy-seat in the most holy place, also 
in the tabernacle of the congregation, and 
upon the altar in the court. 

‘ i This shall be an everlasting statute unto 
you," the Lord declared, “to make an atone¬ 
ment for the children of Israel for all their 
sins once a year." Lev. 16:34. 

The tenth day of the seventh month was 
appointed for this purpose. Day by day 
throughout the year, the sins of Israel had 
been carried into the sanctuary; and the time 
had now come for their removal. 

“And he [the high priest] shall sprinkle of 
the blood upon it with his finger seven times, 
and cleanse it, and hallow it from the unclean¬ 
ness of the children of Israel. And when he 
hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, 
and the tabernacle of the congregation, and 
the altar, he shall bring the live goat, . . . 
and confess over him all the iniquities of the 
children of Israel, and all their transgressions 
in all their sins, putting them upon the head 


189 


190 A More Excellent Ministry 

of the goat, and shall send him away by the 
hand of a fit man into the wilderness: and 
the goat shall hear upon him all their in¬ 
iquities unto a land not inhabited.” Lev. 
16:19-22. 

The atonement made by the priest in the 
sanctuary resulted in the cleansing of the 
people as well as the sanctuary. “For on 
that day shall the priest make an atonement 
for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean 
from all your sins before the Lord .’’ Lev. 
16:30. 

It is stated by the author of “Cast Out”: 

The atonement for iniquity is not the cleansing of 
the sanctuary.— Page 72. 

This incongruous assertion seems necessary 
in order to harmonize with the prophecy of 
Dan. 8:14 another position taken. It is stated 
that the real atonement was made when Christ, 
immediately after His ascension, passed 
through the veil of the heavenly sanctuary, 
and sprinkled His blood on the mercy-seat. 
The prophecy declares that the sanctuary 
would be cleansed at the end of two thou¬ 
sand three hundred days. These days ter¬ 
minated in 1844. Thus there would be an 
interval of more than eighteen hundred years 


The Cleansing of the Sanctuary 191 

between the atonement for iniquity and the 
cleansing of the sanctuary. 

On page 68 is found the following: 

The Scriptures declare that the atonement for in¬ 
iquity was made within the seventy weeks. 

This statement is based on Dan. 9: 24, which 
reads thus: 

4 4 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy 
people and upon thy holy city, to finish the 
transgression, and to make an end of sins, 
and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and 
to bring in everlasting righteousness, and 
to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to 
anoint the most holy.” 

In quoting the above scripture, 4 4 atonement ’’ 
is used instead of “reconciliation” as found in 
the text, and the reason for the change is 
stated thus: 

It will be noticed that I have used the words ‘ ‘ atone¬ 
ment for iniquity” instead of “reconciliation for in¬ 
iquity,” and the reason why I have done this is that 
the word here translated “reconciliation” is kaphar, 
and is the word used for “atonement” in Leviticus 
16, in describing the work of the day of atonement. 
— Page 68. 

The Hebrew word kaphar is variously trans¬ 
lated as follows: reconcile, reconciliation, rec¬ 
onciling, atonement. Fifty-eight times it is 
used in describing a work wrought in the holy 


192 A More Excellent Ministry 

place of the sanctuary, and only sixteen times 
in describing a work wrought in the most holy 
place. Is it a safe position to take, to assume, 
as does the author of “Cast Out,” that in this 
instance the word refers to a work wrought in 
the most holy place only, and upon this as¬ 
sumption to build up a theory! 

The Scriptures do declare that “if, when we 
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by 
the death of Iiis Son, much more, being rec¬ 
onciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Rom. 
5:10. This is in perfect accord with the state¬ 
ment in Dan. 9:24 that “reconciliation for in¬ 
iquity” would be made within the seventy 
weeks. The offering of Christ is the corner¬ 
stone of the entire work of redemption. With¬ 
out this there could be neither reconciliation 
nor atonement. God’s part of the work of 
reconciliation was accomplished on the cross; 
but in order that man may be benefited by this 
act he must lay hold upon it by personal faith 
in Christ. It is thus that he is “reconciled to 
God.” The death of Christ, and the reconcilia¬ 
tion accomplished thereby, look forward to the 
priestly work of atonement. “God was in 
Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself” 
(2 Cor. 5:19); but none will benefit by the 
atonement wrought by Christ within the sane- 


The Cleansing of the Sanctuary 193 

tuary except such as have, by faith, been rec¬ 
onciled to God. The “ reconciliation for in¬ 
iquity” accomplished in the death of Christ 
makes it possible for us to secure an interest 
in the atonement, but these terms should not 
be confused. Reconciliation was made on the 
cross, while the atonement is made within the 
sanctuary. Reconciliation becomes effective 
for the individual when he beholds the love of 
God as revealed on the cross; and, having 
overcome all, he will receive the benefits of the 
atonement in the removal of his sins from the 
sanctuary by the sprinkling of the blood of 
Christ on the mercy-seat on the great day of 
atonement. 

To avoid the difficulties attending an effort 
to separate wholly the atonement from the 
cleansing of the sanctuary, the following state¬ 
ment is made: 

On this great day [the day of atonement], there 
were two atonements made, the first on the mercy- 
seat, on account of the iniquities of man; the other 
atonement on the head of the scapegoat, the type of 
the instigator of sin, Satan. The first atonement was 
made with the blood of the Lord’s goat, and the sec¬ 
ond atonement was made upon the head of the scape¬ 
goat .— i( Cast Out,” page 74. 

But such a position is wholly unsupported 
by Scripture, and entirely at variance with the 


13 


194 A More Excellent Ministry 

type. It is true that Phinehas executed judg¬ 
ment against the leaders in the awful apostasy 
at the Jordan, the plague was stayed, and 
atonement was made for the children of Israel. 
In this way the terrible sin that brought the 
judgments of God upon Israel was cleansed 
from the camp; but no such work as that was 
wrought on the day of atonement. The de¬ 
struction of the finally impenitent was not rep¬ 
resented primarily by the service of the day of 
atonement, but by the burning of the bodies of 
the beasts slain in the daily service connected 
with the first apartment of the sanctuary. The 
psalmist wrote thus: 

“I was envious at the foolish, when I saw 
the prosperity of the wicked. . . . Until I 
went into the sanctuary of God; then under¬ 
stood I their end/’ Ps. 73: 3, 17. 

“The wicked shall perish, and the enemies 
of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they 
shall consume; into smoke shall they consume 
away.’’ Ps. 37: 20. 

The atonement is made with blood, and 
ivitliin the sanctuary. 

“The life of the flesh is in the blood: and I 
have given it to you upon the altar to make 
an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood 
that maketh an atonement for the soul.” 


The Cleansing of the Sanctuary 195 

“And there shall be no man in the taber¬ 
nacle of the congregation when he goeth in to 
make an atonement in the holy place, until he 
come out, and have made an atonement for 
himself, and for his household, and for all the 
congregation of Israel.’’ Lev. 17:11; 16:17. 

By the sprinkling of the blood of the Lord’s 
goat upon and before the mercy-seat in the 
most holy place, and in the tabernacle of the 
• congregation, and upon the altar, the sins of 
the people were blotted out and removed from 
the presence of God. In this way the sanctu¬ 
ary was cleansed and hallowed from the un¬ 
cleanness of the children of Israel. Thus the 
atonement and the cleansing of the sanctuary 
are inseparably connected. It is absolutely 
impossible to separate them by a period of 
eighteen hundred years, or yet to establish two 
separate atonements — one in mercy, and the 
other in judgment. 

Further: in the chapter entitled “How the 
Sanctuary Is Cleansed,” we find the following: 

When Christ made the atonement within the sev¬ 
enty weeks, He made the atonement for the guilt of 
man, and not for the guilt of Satan, which was un¬ 
pardonable. It must be evident to the reader that 
when Christ made atonement at the mercy-seat on ac¬ 
count of the iniquities of men, He did not make an 
atonement for the iniquities of Satan; and conse- 


196 A More Excellent Ministry 

quently man’s sin still remains on the books of record 
in the heavenly sanctuary, not now against man, but 
charged against the other guilty party, Satan. . . . 

The atonement for iniquity disposed of man’s share 
of the guilt of that sin, but as it did not touch Satan’s 
share of that guilt, it remains in the sanctuary until 
the Judgment sits, and it is placed upon the head of 
the original offender, and the sanctuary is cleansed. 
— Pages 74, 76. 

It is claimed that a period of more than 
eighteen hundred years intervenes between the 
atonement for iniquity which disposed of 
man’s sin, and the cleansing'of the sanctuary 
from Satan’s guilt incurred by leading man 
into sin. 

If, as is claimed, the atonement for iniquity 
took place at the ascension of Christ, and dis¬ 
posed of man’s sin, but did not touch Satan’s 
sin; if Satan’s sin remains in the sanctuary 
until the Judgment sits, and is then placed 
back upon his head,— it follows inevitably that 
the cleansing of the sanctuary consists of the 
removal of Satan’s sin, instead of Israel’s 
sin, from the sacred precincts of the sanctuary. 
But this is entirely contrary to the teaching 
of Scripture; it is at variance with the type, 
which must signify the same thing, must teach 
the same truth, as its antitype; it is out of 
harmony with the shadow, which must be true 
to the substance. 


The Cleansing of the Sanctuary 197 

The apostle Peter exhorts us, saying: 

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that 
your sins [not Satan’s sins] may be blotted 
out, when the times of refreshing shall come 
from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19. 

A fundamental truth of the gospel is found 
in the statement with which Peter opened his 
address to the company gathered at the house 
of Cornelius: 

“Of a truth,’’ he said, “I perceive that God 
is no respecter of persons: but in every nation 
he that feareth Him, and worketh righteous¬ 
ness, is accepted with Him.” Acts 10:34, 35. 

This was the enunciation of a truth newly 
discovered by the apostle, but often repeated 
in the later writings of the New Testament. 
It was, however, a truth that had been em¬ 
phasized by Moses and other Old Testament 
writers: “The Lord your God is God of gods, 
and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and 
a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor 
taketh reward.” Deut. 10:17. 

When Lucifer sinned in the heavenly courts, 
forgiveness and salvation were offered to him 
and his sympathizers on the same terms that 
they were offered to Adam after the fall. 
Every possible effort was made to induce them 
to lay down their arms and rejoin the loyal 


198 A More Excellent Ministry 

hosts in their great work of beneficence and 
love. And at the same time, they were faith¬ 
fully warned of the consequences should they 
persist in their course of rebellion. But Luci¬ 
fer’s inordinate desire for honor and glory 
led him, in the hope that his ambitions would 
be realized, to accept all the consequences of 
his unrighteous course. Having finally re¬ 
jected God’s wonderful mercy and grace, and 
deliberately planned to overthrow the govern¬ 
ment of heaven and establish his own in its 
stead, Satan assumed all the consequences that 
must inevitably follow. All the resultant evils 
in case of failure he deliberately shouldered. 
Had he met with success, would he have re¬ 
fused any part of the honor and glory that 
would thereby accrue to him? So when he 
took upon himself the leadership of rebellion, 
he assumed not only in general, but in each 
particular case, all the consequences of his 
revolt. 

Let us suppose now the case of a repentant 
sinner. This man discovers the deception that 
had been practised upon him by the great 
rebel; he sees himself a sinner, without hope, 
estranged from heaven; and fleeing to the arms 
of mercy extended to every repentant soul, 
he finds forgiveness and acceptance with God. 


The Cleansing of the Sanctuary 199 

In the placing of the sins of this penitent one 
upon the head of the original offender, is any 
principle of justice violated! Nor could it be 
said that because of the fact that the devil 
was now called upon to bear the sins of that 
deceived soul, Satan had become his substitute 
and savior. By no rules of logic could it be 
made to appear that any of the credit for the 
salvation of this soul is due to “that old ser¬ 
pent, called the devil, and Satan, which de- 
ceiveth the whole world.’’ 

And yet it is said: 

If Satan bears the guilt of the sin which man him¬ 
self should have borne, but did not bear, either in 
himself, or in his substitute, Christ, then Satan be¬ 
comes to that extent man’s substitute and savior.— 
Page 82. 

This is said to be the logical conclusion 
deduced from the premise that when our Sa¬ 
viour, in the great antitypical day of atone¬ 
ment, blots from the books of record the sins 
of His people Israel, and having cleansed the 
sanctuary from “all their transgressions in 
all their sins,” He bears these sins out of the 
sanctuary, and puts them upon the head of 
the great rebel leader, who bears them into 
the lake of fire. 

“And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon 


200 A More Excellent Ministry 

it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, 
and hallow it from the uncleanness of the chil¬ 
dren of Israel. . . . And Aaron shall lay both 
his hands upon the head of the live goat, and 
confess over him all the iniquities of the chil¬ 
dren of Israel, and all their transgressions in 
all their sins, putting them upon the head of 
the goat, and shall send him away by the hand 
of a fit man into the wilderness: and the goat 
shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto 
a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the 
goat in the wilderness. ’ ’ Lev. 16:19, 21, 22. 

The goat here mentioned was the scapegoat, 
or Azazel (Lev. 16:8, margin), and repre¬ 
sented Satan, the author of all sin. After 
cleansing the sanctuary from the uncleanness 
of the children of Israel, the high priest came 
out bearing their sins, and, placing his hand 
upon the head of the scapegoat, confessed over 
him all their transgressions, putting them 
upon the head of the goat. So when our great 
High Priest shall have sprinkled His blood 
upon the mercy-seat in the heavenly temple, 
and thus shall have blotted the sins of Israel 
from the books of record, He will come out 
of the sanctuary, and place them upon the 
head of the 'antitypical scapegoat. Then an 
angel from heaven will lay “hold on the 


The Cleansing of the Sanctuary 201 

dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, 
and Satan,’’ and will bind him “a thousand 
years, and cast him into the bottomless pit.” 
Rev. 20:1-3. 

The time is now come when every believer 
should afflict his soul as Israel was commanded 
to do on the day of atonement. “For on that 
day,” the Lord declared, “shall the priest 
make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, 
that ye may he clean from all your sins before 
the Lord.’* Lev. 16: 30. If we are made clean 
from all our sins, the record of our sins in 
the sanctuary above must be blotted out. The 
great day of atonement is almost ended, the 
westering sun is about to sink forever from 
our sight. Shall we not see to it now, while 
“the day goeth away,” while “the shadows of 
the evening are stretched out,” that every sin 
is confessed and forgiven, that when our case 
is called up in the Judgment, our sins may be 
blotted out of those books, and our names 
confessed before the Father and before His 
angels? 

Dear reader, let no one rob you of the con¬ 
viction that the great day of the Lord is near 
at hand. Let not the cares of this life, the 
deceitfulness of riches, or the fascinations of 
this world’s pleasures and pomp, lure you 


202 A More Excellent Ministry 

from your steadfastness. The times are omi¬ 
nous. “Behold, the Judge standeth before 
the door. ’ 9 

The holy law of God enshrined beneath the 
mercy-seat before which our Advocate pleads, 
speaks condemnation to the transgressor, but 
righteousness and peace to the obedient. As 
we trace down through its letters of fire, we 
find the same holy precepts enjoined, without 
the least alteration in a single particular. Not¬ 
withstanding the fact that the man of sin 
claims the “power to change time and times, 
to alter and abrogate laws, to dispense with 
all things, yea, with the precepts of Christ” 
(Foxe: “Acts and Monuments,” volume 4, 
page 159), the Decalogue still stands just as 
when proclaimed from the holy mount. 

While to every nation the solemn message 
is sounding, “Fear God, and give glory to 
Him; for the hour of His Judgment is come;” 
while the swiftly passing moments bear you 
rapidly on to the Judgment bar; while yotir 
great High Priest lingers at the mercy-seat 
and pleads His blood for you,— 0, prepare 
your heart for the decisions of that tribunal 
from which there can be no appeal! 


The Cleansing of the Sanctuary 203 

My God, my God, to Thee I cry; 

Thee only would I know: 

Thy purifying blood apply, 

And wash me white as snow. 

Touch me, and make the leper clean; 

Purge mine iniquity. 

Unless Thou wash my soul from sin, 

I have no part in Thee. 

But art Thou not already mine? 

Answer, if mine Thou art; 

Whisper within, Thou love divine, 

And cheer my drooping heart. 

Behold, for me the Victim bleeds, 

His wounds are open wide; 

For me the blood of sprinkling pleads, 

And speaks me justified. 

— Charles Wesley. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


CONCLUSION 

In conclusion, it may be helpful to bring to¬ 
gether into a brief compass some of the points 
presented in the preceding chapters. 

1. All the types and shadows of the Old Tes¬ 
tament clearly pointed to “good things to 
come when type would meet its antitype; 
when shadow would meet its substance; when 
the ministry in the earthly sanctuary with the 
blood of animals which “could never take away 
sin,” would give place to the ministry in the 
heavenly sanctuary with the blood of better 
sacrifices than these; when “the precious blood 
of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and 
without spot,” would actually cleanse both the 
sinner and the sanctuary. 

2. Before the earthly service was begun, the 
sanctuary was set apart by a solemn consecra¬ 
tion or dedication, consisting of sprinkling with 
blood and anointing with holy oil. Likewise 
the heavenly sanctuary was dedicated before its 
service began. This is pointed out by Daniel 
in the ninth chapter and twenty-fourth verse, 
and is said to take place near the close of the 
seventy weeks, prior to 34 a. d. 

3. Following the dedication of the earthly 

204 


C onclusion 


205 


sanctuary came the opening service, when, 
after presenting the offering, Aaron came out 
and blessed the people. In recognition of this 
service, the glory of God appeared to all the 
people, and tire came down and consumed 
the sacrifice. This type met its antitype im¬ 
mediately after the ascension of Christ, when 
our High Priest began His work in the holy 
place of the heavenly sanctuary. The event 
was attested by the outpouring of the Holy 
Spirit at Pentecost, showing that the great 
sacrifice had been accepted and the service 
in the heavenly temple opened. 

4. The ministry of the Aaronic priesthood 
from beginning to end was typical of the min¬ 
istry of Christ: this included annually a long 
ministry in the first apartment of the sanctu¬ 
ary, and a short one in the second. To be true 
to the type, Christ's ministry in the first apart¬ 
ment must cover a long period, and His minis¬ 
try in the second a comparatively brief period. 
This meets its fulfilment in the ministry of 
Christ in the holy place from the time of His 
ascension to 1844, and in the most holy from 
1844 to the close of probation. 

5. The Lord chose men to serve in the 
priestly office who were compassed with in¬ 
firmity; Christ qualified for His priestly work 


206 A More Excellent Ministry 

by His earthly experiences. That ministry 
could not begin until His sufferings were ac¬ 
complished, and He could say, “It is finished.” 

6. The daily offerings, as well as the one 
presented on the great day of atonement, pre¬ 
figured the offering on Calvary; and the daily 
ministration — before the door of the taber¬ 
nacle of the congregation, at the altar of con¬ 
tinual atonement, and before the veil, at the 
altar of continual intercession — equally with 
the service on the great day of atonement, at 
the mercy-seat, and for the cleansing of the 
sanctuary, prefigured the ministry of Christ 
— whose blood “cleanseth us from all sin,” 
and who “ever liveth to make intercession for 
us.” Anything less than this complete service 
covering the entire year would have made the 
type incomplete, because it would have failed 
of representing fully the glorious gospel of 
the blessed God, made effective by the ministry 
of Christ in both apartments of the sanctuary. 

7. The sin-offering that died under the guilt 
of imputed sin, and whose blood or flesh bore 
the sin of the penitent transgressor into the 
sanctuary, represented Christ’s death under 
the iniquities that were laid upon Him as the 
sin-bearer; and the transference of our sin into 
the heavenly sanctuary, even as the Lord’s 


Conclusion 


207 


goat slain without the imposition of hands, 
and consequently free from imputed sin, repre¬ 
sented the Sinless One, whose blood was to be 
sprinkled upon the mercy-seat for the cleans¬ 
ing of the heavenly sanctuary from the sins 
of His people. The blood of the sin-offering 
was for the cleansing of the sinner, and the 
blood of the Lord’s goat for the cleansing of 
the sanctuary. Therefore, beyond all contro¬ 
versy, both the daily and the annual offerings 
were necessary to represent properly the great 
and perfect offering of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 

8. At the ascension of Christ there was a 
change in the priesthood, hence His ministry 
was not the continuation of a priesthood pre¬ 
viously conducted in the heavenly sanctuary, 
but the establishment of a more excellent min¬ 
istry. It marked the close of the priesthood in 
the earthly sanctuary after the order of Aaron, 
and the beginning of the priesthood in the 
heavenly sanctuary after the order of Mel- 
chisedec. A change from the holy to the most 
holy place of that sanctuary would not meet 
the requirements of the Scripture. 

9. Since “ every high priest is ordained to 
offer gifts and sacrifices,” and since nothing 
but the blood of Christ can avail to take away 


208 A More Excellent Ministry 

sin, therefore, when that all-sufficient offering 
was made on Calvary, the way was open for 
the more excellent ministry to begin in the 
heavenly temple; but not till then. 

10. The disciple John on Patmos was per¬ 
mitted to see in vision the ministry as it was 
then carried forward in the sanctuary above. 
The One who “liveth, and was dead,” but is 
‘ 4 alive forevermore,” was seen clad in priestly 
attire, being “girt about the paps with a 
golden girdle,” and “in the midst of the 
throne” before which the “seven lamps of 
fire” were burning. Again, “the Lamb as it 
had been slain,” was seen in the midst of the 
elders who were serving as assistant priests, 
showing conclusively that inasmuch as none 
but the high priest entered the most holy place, 
the Saviour’s ministry was at that time con¬ 
ducted in the first apartment. Later, under the 
sounding of the seventh trumpet, while the 
mystery of God is being finished, the veil is 
drawn aside, and John beholds in the temple 
of God the ark of His testament; the Son is 
brought into the presence of His Father, where 
the ministration of our great High Priest 
closes with the Judgment. 

11. The disappointment of the disciples at 
Calvary, and that of the Advent believers in 


Conclusion 


209 


1844, were strikingly similar; each marked the 
opening of one of the apartments of the 
heavenly sanctuary, and each occurred at 
the time of one of the two great events — the 
crucifixion of Christ, and the beginning of the 
Judgment — the two points most strongly 
marked in this wonderful time prophecy. 

For ten days prior to the great day of atone¬ 
ment, the trumpets were blown to announce 
its arrival. In the Judgment hour message 
that was sounded for ten ye&rs before the 
passing of the time when the Saviour was 
expected to return in 1844, this type was per¬ 
fectly fulfilled. The sure word of prophecy 
therefore clearly pointed out the great anti¬ 
typical day of atonement. 

12. Finally: prophets and apostles have 
spoken with one voice bearing witness to the 
truthfulness of the position held by this people 
regarding the plan of salvation as revealed in 
the life of our Saviour on earth, His sacrificial 
death, and His priestly ministration in the 
sanctuary above. We have not, therefore, for 
more than half a century, followed cunningly 
devised fables; and He who by His overruling 
providence and His fatherly care has guided 
our feet to the present time, will continue to 

14 


210 A More Excellent Ministry 

guide, so long as we are obedient to His will, 
and heed the voice of His Spirit. 

The Lord has provided His church with capabil¬ 
ities and blessings, that they may present to the 
world an image of His own sufficiency, and that 
His church may be complete in Him, a continual 
representation of another, even the eternal world, 
of laws that are higher than earthly laws. His church 
is to be a temple built after the divine similitude; and 
the angelic architect has brought his golden measur¬ 
ing rod from heaven, that every stone may be hewed 
and squared by the divine measurement, and polished 
to shine as an eihblem of heaven, radiating in all di¬ 
rections the bright, clear beams of the Sun of Right¬ 
eousness. The church is to be fed with manna from 
heaven, and to be kept under the sole guardianship 
of His grace. Clad in complete armor of light and 
righteousness, she enters upon her final conflict. The 
dross, the worthless material, will be consumed, and 
the influence of the truth testifies to the world of 
its sanctifying, ennobling character. 

“The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them 
that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the 
Lord. As for Me, this is My covenant w r ith them, 
saith the Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and My 
words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not de¬ 
part out of thy mouth.V “Arise, shine; for thy light 
is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and 
gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise 
upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. 
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to 
the brightness of thy rising .’ 1 

God has in training a people chosen, elect, precious. 
They were once the children of disobedience, disloyal 


Conclusion 


211 


to God. Blit now “ye are a chosen generation, a 
royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; 
that ye should show forth the praises of Him who 
hath called you out of darkness into Ilis marvelous 
light: which in time past were not a people, but are 
now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, 
but now have obtained mercy. 7 ' The Lord Jesus is 
making experiments on human hearts through the 
exhibition of His mercy and abundant grace. He is 
effecting transformations so amazing that Satan with 
all his triumphant boasting, with all his confederacy 
of evil united against God and the laws of His gov¬ 
ernment, stands viewing them as a fortress impreg¬ 
nable to his sophistries and delusiohs. They are to 
him an incomprehensible mystery. The angels of 
God, seraphim and cherubim, the powers commis¬ 
sioned to cooperate with human agencies, look on 
with astonishment and joy, that fallen men, once chil¬ 
dren of wrath, are through the training of Christ 
developing characters after the divine similitude, to 
be sons and daughters of God, to act an important 
part in the occupations and pleasures of heaven. 

To His church, Christ has given ample facilities, 
that He may receive a large revenue of glory from 
His redeemed, purchased possession. The church, 
being endowed with the righteousness of Christ* is 
Ilis depository, in which the wealth of His mercy, 
His love, His grace, is to appear in full and final 
display. The declaration in His intercessory prayer, 
that the Father’s love is as great towards us as 
towards Himself, the only-begotten Son, and that we 
shall be with Him where He is, forever one with 
Christ and the Father, is a marvel to the heavenly 
host, and it is their great joy. The gift of His Holy 
Spirit, rich, full, and abundant, is to His church as 
an encompassing wall of fire, which the powers of 


212 A More Excellent Ministry 

hell shall not prevail against. In their untainted 
purity and spotless perfection Christ looks upon His 
people as the reward of all His suffering, His humili¬ 
ation, and His love, and the supplement of His glory. 
Christ is the great Center from which radiates all 
glory. ‘ ‘ Blessed are they which are called to the 
marriage supper of the Lamb .”—“General Confer¬ 
ence Bulletin,” volume 5, No. 18. 

The Saviour’s work in the sanctuary above 
is almost ended. Soon He will lay aside His 
priestly robes and put on the garments of 
vengeance; He will lay down the scepter of 
peace and take the rod of iron. As we think 
of the prophecies already fulfilled and of those 
rapidly fulfilling, telling unmistakably that 
probationary time has almost fled, that soon, 
very soon, the Judge will rise up and shut to 
the door; as we witness the gathering of the 
storm-clouds, hear the rumbling of the coming 
tempest, which, with a voice like the trumpet 
of the Lord of hosts, speak of the coming of 
the day of wrath, shall we not arouse, gird on 
the armor, close up our ranks, and prepare to 
meet this last great crisis? The Spirit of God 
is calling upon His people, saying, Press to¬ 
gether; press together; press together. As 
we look into the troubled faces of the millions 
about us, who are in the mad pursuit of gain, 
of pleasure, of earthly power and glory, but 
who are ignorant of the only saving message 


C (inclusion 


213 


for this time, what a weight of responsibil¬ 
ity should come upon those who have been 
blessed with the light of the third angel’s mes¬ 
sage ! In the light of the sufferings of the Son 
of God; with the knowledge of His glorious 
gospel so clearly revealed in the sanctuary; 
with the assurance that the wounded hands 
and pierced side are still pleading in behalf of 
the sinner, and the profound conviction that 
His work as priest and advocate is almost 
ended, and that soon the day of wrath must 
break with relentless fury on the world, what 
burden of heart should we feel to give this 
knowledge to those in darkness! 

To every nation the gathering call is sound¬ 
ing, while the hosts of the Lord are falling into 
line, and, under the leadership of their Great 
General, are preparing for the last great con¬ 
flict with the prince of evil. They will go 
forth “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and 
terrible as an army with banners.” “Thy 
watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice 
together shall they sing: for they shall see 
eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again 
Zion.” 

While the sprinkled blood still pleads, while 
the light from the sanctuary still shines upon 
us, and ere our great Priest-King shall rise 


214 A More Excellent Ministry 

up from His mediatorial throne, and shall shut 
to the door, let us unitedly seek His divine 
benediction. 

“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the 
Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be 
gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up His coun¬ 
tenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” Num. 
6:24-26. 

“Now unto Him that is able to keep you 
from falling, and to present you faultless be¬ 
fore the presence of His glory with exceeding 
joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory 
and majesty, dominion and power, both now 
and ever. Amen. ’ * 

No blood, no altar now; 

The sacrifice is o’er. 

No flame, no smoke, ascends on high; 

The Lamb is slain no more! 

But richer blood has flowed from nobler veins, 

To purge the soul from guilt, and cleanse the reddest 
stains. 

We thank Thee for the blood, 

The blood of Christ, Thy Son; 

The blood by which our peace is made, 

Our victory is won — 

Great victory o ’er hell, and sin, and wo, 

That needs no second fight, and leaves no second foe. 

We thank Thee.for the grace 
Descending from above, 

That overflows our widest guilt; 

The eternal Father’s love, 


C onclusion 


215 


Love of the Father's everlasting Son, 

Love of the Holy Ghost,— Jehovah, three in One. 


We thank Thee for the hope, 

So glad, and sure, and clear; 

It holds the drooping spirit up, 

Till the long dawn appear. 

Fair hope! with what a sunshine does it cheer 
Our roughest path on earth, our dreariest desert here! 

We thank Thee for the crown 
Of glory and of life. 

'Tis no poor with'ring wreath of earth, 

Man's prize in mortal strife: 

'Tis incorruptible as is the throne, 

The kingdom of our God and His incarnate Son. 

— Dr. H. Bonar. 


JUL 15 19' 2 


Another Sanctuary Booklet 

After having read “A More Excellent Min¬ 
istry,” you will be interested in a further study of 
the sanctuary question, and this you will find in 

“Christ Our Advocate” 

It covers the earthly tabernacle and its minis¬ 
try, explains the true tabernacle in heaven, gives 
expositions of the prophecies of Daniel and the 
Revelation, including an outline of the 2,300 day 
period, and locates the time of cleansing the heav¬ 
enly sanctuary, or the judgment. It closes with 
chapters on “ The Last-Day Apostasy,” “ Books 
of Record,” and “ Blotting Out of Sin.” Contains 
112 pages. Price 10 cents. 


Tracts on Kindred Topics 

A hundred 

We Would See Jesus Bible Students’ Library No. 173, $1.00 

The Gospel Message for To-Day “ 


188, 

1.00 

Signs of the End “ 


194, 

1.00 

The Great Day of the Lord “ 


65, 

2.00 

The Perpetuity of the Law “ 


178, 

1.00 

Elihu on the Sabbath 


192, 

1.00 

The Christian Sabbath “ 


205, 

3.00 


Pacific Press Publishing Association 

Mountain View, California 

Portland, Oregon Calgary, Alberta. Canada Kansas City, Mo. 
















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